{"id":677,"date":"2010-12-14T16:46:52","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T16:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=677"},"modified":"2010-12-14T19:40:24","modified_gmt":"2010-12-14T19:40:24","slug":"guest_post_bill_donahue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/14\/guest_post_bill_donahue\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest post by Bill Donahue \u2013 Why Leaders Don\u2019t Share Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em><\/p>\n

Leaders face an ongoing tension between hanging on tightly to the reigns of their leadership, versus allowing others an opportunity to step up\u2026and quite possibly fail. My friend Bill Donahue has written an insightful piece on how leaders can manage this tension.<\/em><\/p>\n

Take a moment to read Bill\u2019s post, and then weigh in on how you\u2019ve managed to navigate this leadership tension yourself.<\/em><\/p>\n

Click here to visit Bill’s Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

A communal or shared approach to leadership is threatening to some leaders. High-control types fear that the purity of their vision will be compromised. Others would rather delegate to others rather than develop them.<\/p>\n

Here are some common reasons why leaders fail to share the leadership load.<\/p>\n

Loss of control<\/strong>: \u201cWho knows what will happen if I let him\/her lead?\u201d There is always risk in leader development. Others will likely disappoint you. When that happens, remember the early days of your own leadership journey.<\/p>\n

Feelings of inferiority<\/strong>: \u201cWhat if my prot\u00e9g\u00e9 is a better leader than I?\u201d This is actually called \u201csuccess\u201d in leadership development. If this is true, light that candle don\u2019t pour water on it. Feeling threatened is not the mark of a quality leader.<\/p>\n

Self-centeredness<\/strong>: \u201cI need the attention and I like people depending on me.\u201d Ok, so we are all narcissists at some level. Let others shine. The day will come that you will be so glad they are getting the attention. And you can focus on your next vision.<\/p>\n

Feelings of Inadequacy<\/strong>: \u201cWhy would anyone want to learn leadership from me?\u201d Some leaders wonder it they have anything to teach others. Here\u2019s the reality\u2013 if you have been leading, you can be teaching. Everything you have done is really part of a learning laboratory for leadership. Got to school on it and pass it on.<\/p>\n

Fear of Failure<\/strong>: \u201cWhat if I pick the wrong person and they screw up?\u201d You will both learn a valuable lesson. The leader gets wiser in choosing prot\u00e9g\u00e9s and the apprentice learns from mistakes, or has to develop character, or might discover they are not a leader (at least in this context).<\/p>\n

Short-sightedness<\/strong>: \u201cThere just aren\u2019t any other leaders around.\u201d Some team leaders believe no one can lead like they can, and therefore there are no prospects. Remember, a prospective leader is not the most capable person in the room\u2013they are the most teachable. Look at what people can become, not just at what they have done.<\/p>\n

Misperceptions<\/strong>: \u201cPeople just don\u2019t have the desire to help!\u201d Sometimes we think no one wants the burden of leadership. In reality, we just have not asked. We do not invite people into the drama of leadership development because we believe that secretly they hate the idea. Not true. So many people feel unworthy to lead; but if you believe in them and call out the best in them, you will be pleasantly surprised at how many respond and will work hard at it.<\/p>\n

Ready to share the load? What stands in the way? Who is you next apprentice?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leaders face an ongoing tension between hanging on tightly to the reigns of their leadership, versus allowing others an opportunity to step up\u2026and quite possibly fail. My friend Bill Donahue has written an insightful piece on how leaders can manage this tension. Take a moment to read Bill\u2019s post, and then weigh in on how…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,5,7],"tags":[466,465,463,984,462,468,464,467,436],"class_list":["post-677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-development","category-discipline2","category-leadership","tag-fear-of-failure","tag-feelings-of-inadequacy","tag-feelings-of-inferiority","tag-leadership","tag-loss-of-control","tag-misperceptions","tag-self-centeredness","tag-short-sightedness","tag-tension-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":685,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677\/revisions\/685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}