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Not everyone is meant to be a leader.
Just like not everyone is meant to be a teacher, a pilot, a customer service representative (have you experienced someone who definitely should NOT be in customer service? 🙄), an architect or a barista, not everyone is meant to be a leader. Yet many companies still follow the old practice of promoting the technical superstar to a leadership position.
To elevate our cultures, we not to stop promoting employees for technical expertise and promote for leadership qualities. This means we need to put time and energy into coaching our employees and preparing them for leadership positions BEFORE they move into the role.
Not everyone has the competencies required to lead a team.
Most managers don’t receive any formal training before being promoted into a leadership role. That was certainly the case for me. My first official leadership position was a supervisor for the IT help desk at an insurance company. No one formally sat me down and shared what was expected of me in my new role, and there was no training class for me to attend. I thought my job was to give instructions and answer questions, but there is lot more required to be a successful leader. It took time, experience, and—yes, eventually—formal training for me to understand what skills were important to be an exceptional leader.
I’ve seen many people have this experience: They are promoted to a leadership role without fully understanding what it takes to be successful.
In fact, not everyone is meant to be a leader. When I worked for a credit union, one of the best performers on my team told me she had no interest in moving into a leadership role. She realized that having tough conversations, managing personalities and giving feedback to employees was not something she would enjoy or be good at. I always admired her for knowing her strengths and what she wanted in her career, because most employees aspire to a leadership role without knowing what it truly entails.
Whether you are currently in a leadership role or you aspire to a leadership position one day, I want to offer some guidance on how to tell if leadership is or is not the best career path for you or your employees.
How to tell if leadership is or is not the best career path for you or your employees.
Here are five signs—updated from my previous list of four—that you should not be a leader:
1. You prefer to work alone.
Leadership is about inspiring others to bring out their best and help them achieve individual and organizational goals. This requires consistent coaching, supporting and recognition of employees.
Exceptional leaders don’t see these as duties they somehow have to fit in to their busy schedule and workload; they see them as a responsibility to foster the potential in each employee and the team. Exceptional leaders realize that spending time with their people is a great investment toward mutual success. It’s OK to prefer to work alone, but that probably means you shouldn’t be a leader. Cultivating relationships is the foundation of inspiring people to make their best contribution.
2. You avoid confrontation.
Most people don’t like confrontation, but leaders must put those feelings aside and have difficult conversations. There are some universal truths in leadership: People will not always meet expectations, and things will not always go as planned.
As a leader, you will often need to approach uncomfortable situations with your employees, your colleagues and even your boss. Exceptional leaders don’t avoid these situations—they see them as a necessary step for working through issues and moving forward.
3. You prefer doing technical work.
One of the biggest challenges that holds leaders back from being successful is the inability to delegate. Many leaders who were superstars in a contributor role have a hard time not putting their technical expertise to use and getting into the weeds. But the competencies needed to be successful in a leadership role are very different from a technical role.
Leadership is about getting results through people, not by yourself. If you prefer doing technical work, that’s a good sign that you should remain in a technical role where you can shine.
4. You think the people side of the business is ‘too soft.’
Two important elements of successful leadership are getting results and fostering positivity. You cannot have a successful team if you don’t have both of these elements. If you think focusing on employee engagement is not worth your time and effort, you should not be a leader.
Engagement leads to higher productivity, which leads to results. Exceptional leaders spend most of their time developing and supporting their employees. If this “softer” people-focused side of the business is not appealing, you should not be a leader.
5. You’d rather fix than facilitate.
Great leaders facilitate exceptional performance from their teams by instilling ownership and accountability in others through coaching, supporting and guiding them to their potential and getting results. This takes time, energy and effort, and it requires leaders to frequently adjust their style to be effective with employees’ different preferences and personalities.
If you’d prefer to fix problems and accomplish daily activities rather than spending time guiding, supporting and coaching others to elicit their highest potential (and to fix the problems themselves), that’s a good sign you should not be a leader.
Leadership is not the best career path for everyone. We need to make it OK for people to opt out of being a leader. We shouldn’t just want anyone or even any high performer in leadership.
- We need people in leadership roles who are capable of serving others and focusing a lot of time and effort on the development of their people.
- We need people in leadership roles who understand the importance of delegation, coaching and employee recognition.
- We need to stop promoting technical superstars to leadership roles because we think it’s the next and only natural step. It’s not the best next step for everyone.
If any of these 5 signs resonate with you, it might be time to consider you might be someone who should not lead a team. And that’s OK!
There are many professional positions where individuals can contribute their talents and abilities that do not involve leadership.
On the other hand, if you're ready for leadership and want leadership training to help you elevate your leadership so you can be an exceptional leader, consider joining one of our signature leadership training programs:
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I really love and enjoy this reading. Reading this I learned that when you speak out clearly you thoughts and ideas people see you as winner, because you are not afraid to go straight to the point.
Great article.....And happy belated birthday! Welcome to my world, young lady!
Whenever I have a work project that I keep putting off - I think about delegating that project to someone else - which accomplishes 2 things- it gets the project done and frees us my brain space thinking about it.
Good morning. I loved this read. Thank you so much for sharing. Sincerely, Melissa :)
Thank you for this blog Laurie. I liked most part and specially "As organizations have become more complex, there is a tendency to require employees to do more with less. This is a slippery slope, and often can result in employees feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. One of the biggest contributors to this is not evaluating resources during the strategic planning process." I will use this practice "A best practice is to do what I call Priority Planning—putting important practices on your calendar ahead of time so they become a priority in your day. Examples of activities to Priority Plan include scheduling recurring coaching sessions with each team member, time for strategic thinking and planning, vacations, doctor appointments, important children’s events, and blocks of time for focused work on projects." To be more effective, I will get a good rest so I can have enough energy in the morning. I will read the blog again along with the other links on employee evaluation. Thank you so much Laurie. Best wishes to you and your family.
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I love the feedback on the more than 50 hours of work. AND filling time. So true. Unfortunately, showing that you work longer hours is still seen as being a "hard worker" - not sure how to change that though.
I enjoyed the read. I concur that transitioning from technical skills to delegating results was a task within itself. I did not realize I was almost trying to do the same thing from my previous position, and it was not working. However, I am seeing the results of how delegating daily tasks makes my job and workload easier. Thank you, Laurie.
Thank you for sharing information about your trip Laurie! All 3 things resonate with me - probably #1 being the biggest. I know when I'm gone for a week, I'm still thinking about work and need a vacation when I get back because I did not relax enough. I think your idea of a longer vacation is definitely in my future!!
Hey Laurie, My take on your list - 1 - everyone has a story - listen 2- social media causes interpersonal problems 5- generational differences create hurdles / earn it you aren't entitled / we should help them get there not give it to them 6 AMEN some leaders I would have followed thru Hell, some I wish - well, you know 7- true BUT be as good as your word and 14- Hopefully we leave some good from our efforts, I know the good leaders I have had have. Seen a lot in my career but it really comes down to treat others the way you want to be treated, fair, honest, and straight forward. Good read. Take care
I love this so much and thank you so much for sharing! I really just love realizing that enjoying the simple things sometimes is the best! Also recognizing that what is important and fun to you may not be everyone else's fun on the on the trip. “Do we get to keep these toiletries?” was my favorite!!!! :):) Glad you had a great time and got to spend it with your family!
I very much resonate with lesson no 3! Thank you Laurie
I think the part that you might have missed in their top 5 things, some of which were not "Italian" or even different from home, all of them happened with you, both of you. And i think that is what they will remember too. And you've got tons of photos that will remind them of what the Sistine Chapel looked like - then they might remember what it sounded like or smelled like. Oh- and i agree with you 100% about sleep!
LOTS of great take-aways from this post! Thank you for posting! I especially love "slow down to speed up". That's a keeper!
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the not getting enough rest to be at my best. definitely need to get more quality sleep and make that a priority
It really is hard to narrow down the 3 lessons into one because they are all so interconnected. You need to give your mind and body THE TIME to relax SO THAT you can enjoy the SIMPLE THINGS, including REST. I enjoyed that lesson as a whole. I will take that lesson with me on my next vacation (or staycation). As always, thank you Laurie for your candor and for sharing your own lessons with others so that we too can benefit.
Great information and reminders
Laurie, Thank you for sharing your trip and these nuggets. The lessons that resonate most with me are it does take time to relax and getting proper rest. When you devote 15 plus hours of your day for work, taking care of home and others; the 6-7 hours you lay down does not cut it! For me during this time I'm trying to unwind and find myself thinking fighting not to think about what I have to do tomorrow. Even after I create a to do list for the next day...I find things I need to add. Taking a day off here and there doesn't cut it as well because of all the plans you have for that day. I try to make sure my Mental Health Days remains just that.... time for me to laugh, cry, scream.... whatever I need to release the cares and stress!
Really enjoyed the article... and all very true!
Since I was already well aware of #1 (I'm in the same boat with taking a long time to relax), I think I'm resonating most with #3. I'm learning to prioritize sleep / rest and it's been wonderful. Love that you said "I love sleep.". :)
Welcome back from vacation. Well deserve! Action is the key to success. Shoulder to shoulder, coaching and delegating task to help other employees grow are very important. It is a sacrifice that one must do. Forget about yourself and be with your team day in and out to help them grow, is not always easy. On the long run, your team is stronger, and you can depend on them for the success of the organization. Thank you so much!
So many great tips here, thank you!
I am so impressed you're able to disconnect and these are great tips I'll be sure to try on my next trip!
Such a great post - so inspiring!