Almost all of the time the person who runs the team is a volunteer.
Much of the time the person who runs the team is a volunteer who lives in the shadows receiving little or no recognition for the huge amount of work that they do, voluntarily, to make sure that the team are ok.
In recent years the subject of leadership has become extremely fashionable and trendy to talk about. People like to be held up as ‘leaders’ but in truth this is something that has been around forever; almost all the time the person who chooses to be the leader does exactly that. They choose.
The woman who runs a house hold with a family and also tries to balance work and her self volunteers to be the family team leader (I realise this is a sexual stereotype but invariably it is the truth) The woman chooses to run the family. She could choose something else, go some where else, choose to run away from her husband and her children; not have to wash every ones pants, organise the activities or keep a thousand domestic things in her head. But she doesn’t. She chooses to be the team leader.
The person who runs a small business chooses to run a small business. They would also like the chance to go home at night and ‘veg out’ and not answer emails or think about work. Not worry about people in the business and if they’re ok. Not to worry about wages or paying bills. They volunteer to do that. They could stop (and many of them do) cash in and become one of the guys that are led. But they don’t. They choose to lead.
The job of the leader is to do what is best for the group. In doing so, the majority of the time, do what is best for the individual. Inevitably though a time will come when what is best for one individual is not best for the group. While that is difficult for the leader, it is extremely important to have the good grace and honesty to accept that there is a bigger picture beyond our world. The choice then is to either be involved with the group or to exit.
On a day-to-day basis I am staggered how little people understand this concept. It’s ok in small doses for individuals to ‘want’ but spare a thought for the team leader whose job it seems is to manage all the ‘wants’ together.
Blog Post Number - 1322
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