Leaders, Are You Solving or Creating Problems?

Last week, I was in conversation with my 9-year old daughter about recent national events in the UK when she popped a question about ‘partygate‘ scandal at Downing Street.

Her remark left me speechless. It went along these lines:

“Dad, if Boris Johnson broke his OWN lockdown rules and had several parties, he should go to jail, right?”

My eyes popped. Where did that come from?

Leadership is a responsibility

Leadership is NOT a job title but a responsibility to show up everyday and live out your core values consistently.

Too many operate at the leadership level that’s wholly based on titles. So when the ‘role‘ ceases, they feel less of a leader.

You don’t need a podium or microphone to lead. You don’t need an audience to lead. You don’t need cheerleaders to lead.

If you can solve real-life problems, help people, touch lives lives and influence at a personal level, you're a leader // Leaders, Are You Solving or Creating Problems? Click To Tweet

Leadership can be seen

Everyone is a leader in some capacity.

Parents lead. Pastors lead. Businesspeople lead. Entrepreneurs lead. Friends lead. Siblings lead. Every follower in one setting is a leader in another.

And you don’t need someone else to confer a title on you.

As I reflected on my exchange with my daughter, I was reminded of the fact that leadership can actually be seen.

In your sphere of influence, someone is paying attention to your character and decisions.

Children, in particular, pay attention to the quality of leadership in their lives and can assess when we are true to our core values or not.

The longer you persistently live contrary to your professed convictions, the deeper you’re influencing others to have disregard for genuine leadership.

Our examples are more powerful than our words. As one of my favourite Chinese proverb says, “Talk doesn’t cook rice”

Leaders solve problems, not create more

I’m not making any political point but there’s a lot to learn from ‘partygate‘ about personal integrity, truth and fairness in leadership, much of which have been widely discussed in the media.

But leaders must equally be committed to solving problems, not create more.

When leaders tell lies, act with indiscretion, hypocrisy, malign the character of others publicly and privately or treat others with contempt, they create more problems and lose credibility.

People tend to end up doing what they consistently see leaders do. So, mind your attitude, actions and intentions.

In your leadership, solve problems; don’t create more.

Photo by Olav Ahrens Røtne on Unsplash