Welcome to the fourth installment of the 10 Things You Do Not Know About Leadership. In this weekly, series I cover topics that tend to be overlooked, forgotten, or completely misunderstood. By sharing with you, it is my hope and belief that I help in eradicating many of misconceptions that come with leadership.
#4. LEADERSHIP CAN NEVER BE MASTERED
Most people will spend their entire lives trying to master leadership but the truth is mastery of the concept of leadership can never be mastered. Sure, you can read about leadership. You can attend seminars and/or take classes about the subject of Leadership but none of them will give you any form or level of mastery, as it does not exist. Sure, you can experience LEADERSHIP by being led or leading others. While all that is good and well, the reality remains the same YOU will NEVER master LEADERSHIP.
Go ahead and ask any true and genuine leader you know. They will tell you they have a long way to go to mastering leadership.
Pay close attention to whom you ask and their response, as those that “claim” they have mastered leadership are, most certainly, outright liars. They are NOT leaders but quite possibly very bad managers. See bad managers have this nasty habit of confusing intimidation as leadership. That is why most will say they have mastered leadership because they intimidate others. So, proceed with caution but I digress.
Back to the reason for why one can never go the distance when it comes to leadership mastery as it deals with a multiverse of variables that exist when it comes to being a leader. The multiverse of variables come at you from all angles, directions and for any number of reasons and, of course, in varying degrees and intensity. Never achieving mastery is solely because those variables are infinite. That is the reason why LEADERSHIP can never be truly mastered.
Take the following into consideration: If leadership could be mastered there would be ONLY ONE BOOK on the subject. Yet, libraries, bookstores, and the internet are full of books on leadership. Countless books of various leadership niches are published every year which are then added to the already gigantic pile of publications dealing directly with the subject of leadership and their various niches.
Next year, new books, articles, blog posts, videos and podcast will be published on leadership topics that have been around for a while and also on topics that have not yet been addressed. It is now 2022 and three years ago no one imagined the pandemic and all the challenges everyone would be facing. Now here we are, near post-pandemic, with new issues, concerns, challenges, as well as successes.
The ability to attempt to achieve leadership mastery is commendable and most certainly NOT futile. It is a goal that will always be just out of reach and it should never be something to give up on. Trying to master something that can never be mastered is a worthy cause. Never feel like you are spending your time and energy on something that is unattainable.
The time, effort and energy you spend on something you are passionate about is never unworthy. If your goal is to become better at what you do, then the idea or notion that it is not worth it is moot. Becoming a better person, a better leader, a better citizen is never a bad thing, actually it is an exceptionally good thing.
Ultimately, it may take a lifetime of continuously working on being the best leader you can be, all the while knowing leadership can never be mastered is not quixotic. It is to be applauded and encouraged. It is to be considered a journey. A journey filled with discovery and adventure but also a journey that never ends. That’s OK as the adventure is in the journey. Therefore, always be learning.
-Dave