Top 10 Reasons Being a Leader Sucks
Posted in Social Commentary on September 7th, 2007 by JennyEarning big money, working whatever hours you want, telling other people what to do, free lunches and meetings over golf. What’s not to love about being in charge? Well, things are not always what they appear. Sometimes being a leader can suck.
1. Too many yeses. You slowly find yourself surrounded by people who will respond yes to anything. Unfortunately, they may not actually mean yes, or even be able to deliver what they promise.
2. Ultimate accountability. The higher you rise in an organization the less you know about its day-to-day operations, yet the more accountable you are for everything that happens. Further, the more authority you have the less people tell you because they do not want to be the one to burden you or incur your wrath by being the messenger of the wrong message.
3. The magnifying glass effect.Your every mood, word and deed are magnified proportional to the size and fiscal state of your organization. As the boss you are the center of attention all the time. Walking down the corridor to your window office with a scowl because of your flat tire in the morning scares people. The whispers start, rumors build and by afternoon your admin staff are being asked about the impending layoffs.
4. No one gives you empathy. When things go bad for you, few people truly emphasize. Heck, they may even feel little internal glee. After all you do already have everything…
5. You start to believe the hype. If you are not careful you might start to think that you really do have all the answers and deserve special treatment, such as your own elevator so that you don’t have to interact with the “little people”. While you might be a great motivator this kind of thinking makes you a crummy leader.
6. You are never “off”. Even when you are not working, you are sought out privately for the role you hold publicly. For all intents you are your job. Have a bad day? Tough, off to the gala you go. And you can not just sit there politely because everybody wants something, even if it is only a handshake.
7. Your family isn’t composed of yes people. Your family is not part of your “team” and don’t jump when your finger snaps the way everyone else in your world does. It is hard to accept that your teenage daughter is not impressed with the eloquent argument you just gave on the cost effectiveness of blah, blah, blah, blah. Where’s the respect? Doesn’t she understand you’re paid a lot of money to give much harder opinions than these?
8. It is lonely. Finding friends is difficult, not only because you work a lot of hours and as you rise your peer group gets smaller, but because the people you regularly interact with are usually competitors or people who want your job.
9. It’s hard to know who to trust. If you are a believer in the fish philosophy you know you are surrounded by sharks (not cute little puffer fish) waiting for you to slip so they can take a bite. Perceived vulnerability is like blood in the water as it attracts a big old pack of predators. Others want what you have and if you are not careful they will try to take it.
10. Your choices impact people’s lives. You have to make decisions that may be good for the organization, but are bad for certain individuals within it. Cutbacks and layoffs might be essential but those are real people with real lives and families that your decision impacts. It takes a strong person to unflinchingly make hard choices while maintaining empathy for those harmed by said choices.
Related Posts:
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Check out more opinions of why leadership sucks at The Leadership Epidemic.
September 7th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Very insightful article… very perceptive and things the average worker bee doesn’t often think about (and dismisses if he does).
September 8th, 2007 at 2:20 am
Thanks for your perception on this subject. Visualizing is one of the greatest powers human beings possess. Sometimes its easier to know what we don’t want than to sense what we do. Through a process of elimination, each person can get closer to what will really make life most meaningful.
Its also useful to note your thoughts heavily impact the nature of any conditions you attract. To focus on positive feelings will more likely attract those kinds of experiences that will enable you to feel good.
September 8th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Liara, excellent points. It all seems to be a feedback loop though, doesn’t it? As you start thinking positively, it feeds more positive thoughts. The same is unfortunately true for negative thoughts. I have found my most difficult times are when I am stuck in one of these negative feedback loops. I have the ability to see it, but I still can’t work my way out of it. Sometimes the only way out is with shear force and persistence.
September 8th, 2007 at 11:25 am
[…] Jenny and Erin Jenny and Erin Top 10 Reasons being a Leader Sucks […]
September 8th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Jenny,
I do realize your intentions and I do share some issues of what your saying. But I also think a leader, a good one, is important. A good leader is someone who carries a great responsability far beyond the golf meetings.
September 8th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Thanks Jason!
Oh Vernon, I completely agree with you. I think the power of a great leader is incredible. I’ve been truly blessed to know and work with some incredible leaders and have been fundamentally shaped through those relationships.
The introductory paragraph is a pretty accurate reflection of how I’ve heard leaders described and also how I’ve observed some pretty poor leaders view their role (at least from the outside looking in). Thanks for visiting and commenting! Hope you stop back again.
September 8th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Jenny,
Your opening paragraph pretty much sums up what the average employee thinks their bosses job is all about. Having been in positions of leadership in both the public and private sectors, I have to agree with most of the items on your list. Particularly no. 6 and no. 7. When going to the store you tend to dress differently in case one of your employees happens to run into you. The most dramatic difference is highlighted by no. 7. At work you can be responsible for multi-million budgets and large number of employees, yet when you get home your spouse is convinced you can’t change a light bulb without instruction.
Enjoy your blog…I have bookmarked it on my favorits list.
September 8th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Steve,
(sorry couldn’t resist…)
Thanks for your feedback! How you coming with those lightbulbs?
Thank you very much for bookmarking our site. I’ll definitely be over to check yours out as well.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:32 am
Jenny,
Since my wife is a hard-core gamer (World of Warcraft), she doesn’t have a lot of time to instruct me on how to change them (I think the ones that don’t work need to be changed); therefore, I have a lot of burned out bulbs.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:54 am
A good leader is someone who can see the road ahead, set up a basic plan of how to navigate it, pass this plan on to his followers, and then support them in their implementation of his plan.
PS - If you don’t like that I said “his”, tough luck.
I think in terms of my own life, and I’m a guy, and that whole he/she his/her thing where people feel required to put both genders every time is annoying.
September 11th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
ha, ha… you feeling a little feisty today?? :p
September 11th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Yep… I don’t feel like pulling any punches today. I’m in the mood to write, and write I will!
September 16th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Jenny,
Good list and how true. The yes man syndrome is real, if you’re not careful you will think you’re the brightest bulb in the box, but in reality having someone tell the truth or give you their insight is what a leader needs. This is not to say that the other points in your being a leader sucks, but just recently the “yes” issue was very real.
I enjoyed the article.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Hi Dale!
Thanks for commenting! You were my main inspiration…
Listen, my emails keep getting bounced back if you read this call me!
September 17th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Jenny –
How true it is! People seldom see the other side of things.
I remember a M*A*S*H* episode where the officers and enlisted guys traded jobs for a day. The expected hijinks happened, but it gave each side a deeper appreciation of what the other goes through.
Last year at the Golden Globes Awards (I think), Angelina Jolie was roundly criticized for sitting quietly and looking “serious” and glum while Brad Pitt was getting all the attention. Turned out, she had learned earlier that day that her mom was dying of cancer and only had a short time to live. When I read that, I thought, here’s someone who would seem to have it all, yet she can’t even react normally to such devastating news because she’s expected to be “on” all the time. I expect that if she had stayed home (like most of the rest of us would have done) she would have been criticized for not showing up at all.
Great blog, by the way — I’m adding a link. Keep it up!
September 17th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Thanks for the comment Joan! I can’t even begin to imagine what life would be like if one were constantly in the public eye. I think it would be quite dehumanizing.
Appreciate the link.