Leadership in today’s complex marketplace

Visit any library or online bookstore and search for the word “leadership” and you’ll discover a mindboggling amount of texts written on the subject of being a “good leader”.

Whether you’re leading a Fortune 500 Company, a retail store, a greenhouse or garden center, a local sports team, a classroom, a political office or even a household, at one point or another the subject of being a “good leader” is bound to enter into the conversation.

Now, visit any library or online bookstore and search for “being a better employee” and that list decreases considerably.

It begs the question why aren’t there as many books which focus specifically on being a better worker, only a better leader?

Perhaps the answer is easier than we might think.

In one way or another, aren’t we all leading something or someone – even if we haven’t attained a leadership role? Couldn’t we all benefit from being better leaders in life?

In the book The Mind of the Leader: How to Lead Yourself, Your People, and Your Organization for Extraordinary Results by Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter, it’s said, “A good leader must understand what makes a good life and how to help people find that. A leader’s job is not to provide a paycheck and benefits: It’s about helping people be truly happy and find meaning in their work and life. When a leader succeeds with this, it unlocks real performance.”

Though not a popular choice, leaders, supervisors, managers and businesses must become reflective – realizing their strengths, shortcomings and opportunities to improve. Why you might ask?

In Bryant McGill’s book Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life, he writes, “People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot”. That doesn’t sound like a good place to be for anyone or any business.

Again, whether you’re leading a Fortune 500 Company, a retail store, a greenhouse or garden center, a local sports team, a classroom, a political office or even a household, it’s important that we take the time to learn how to better lead ourselves in order to better lead others.

How do we do that?

“Leadership today is about unlearning management and relearning being human.” ― Rasmus Hougaard