Psychology of Leadership

Leadership in the mind - the psychology of leadership

We spend a lot of time thinking about leadership - it must be important to us.

When things go wrong, we blame leaders - a useful scapegoat.

When we feel anxious or lost, we look to leaders to make us feel better.

Anxiety grows with work pressure, hence the growing cry for leadership.

What does it say about us that we so strongly need leaders?

Why do we need them so much?

How does our need for leadership differ from hero worship?

How can we grow and develop if we depend on leaders to save us?

We naturally form ourselves into hierarchies - just like all primates and a lot of other animals.

We disempower ourselves if we equate leadership with hierarchical position. Basically, managers occupy positions. Leaders are free-floating, somewhat rebellious, agents of change.

Traditional leadership theory is paternalistic - we want someone in charge of us who is a substitute parent - usually a father figure.

Admired leaders look after us, inspire us, make us feel good. We seek their approval, just like we did our fathers.

But this model of leadership is profoundly disempowering.

Hence why we need to get rid of it. Even if we can't erase our dependency needs, we can at least stop calling such people leaders. Soothing our anxieties is not leadership. Championing change, challenging the status quo as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela did to their respective governments - that is leadership.

Being in charge doesn't make you a leader, just a manager.