{"id":988,"date":"2018-07-04T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2018-07-04T10:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=988"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:22","slug":"the-real-job-of-leadership-is-not-to-take-charge-the-real-job-of-leadership-is-to-take-care-of-the-people-in-our-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/the-real-job-of-leadership-is-not-to-take-charge-the-real-job-of-leadership-is-to-take-care-of-the-people-in-our-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe real job of leadership is not to take charge. The real job of leadership is to take care of the people in our charge.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

As company owners, if we want to grow our enterprise into something that has size, depth, staying power, and value, we can\u2019t do it alone.\u00a0 We need a team to help us . . . a team of leaders.\u00a0 But how do we develop our team?\u00a0 How do we select who will be on it?\u00a0 Do we pick the people who have the most experience?\u00a0 Not necessarily.\u00a0 A professional athlete may have honed his playing skills over many years, but that doesn\u2019t mean he would make a great coach.<\/p>\n

Simon Sinek is a business author and lecturer who we have referenced here many times because he\u2019s a favorite of ours.\u00a0 In a discussion about leadership, he points out most careers take a similar trajectory:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. We\u2019re hired to do a particular task.<\/li>\n
  2. We get some training on the tools and processes we need to do the task we\u2019ve been hired to do.<\/li>\n
  3. If we work hard and use the training we\u2019ve been given effectively, we\u2019re successful.<\/li>\n
  4. Because we\u2019ve been successful at doing the task we were hired to do, we get promoted into a leadership position where we\u2019re expected to lead a group of people who are doing the same task that we did.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The problem is, while we know how to do the task, we don\u2019t know how to lead others who are doing the task.\u00a0 The original training we were given did not include leadership training.\u00a0 Apparently, we were supposed to have picked that up along the way by osmosis.\u00a0 While some companies, particularly larger ones, will offer some form of leadership training, most don\u2019t.\u00a0 As a result, too many leadership positions are being held by micro-managers who are leaders in name only.<\/p>\n

    For more on how to identify and groom the members of your leadership team, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe real job of leadership is not to take charge<\/u><\/em>.\u00a0 The real job of leadership is to take care of the people in our charge<\/u><\/em>.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ~ Simon Sinek<\/em><\/p>\n

    Leadership is a skill like any other.\u00a0 It can be taught and it can be learned.\u00a0 However, not everyone will have the same aptitude to become really good at it.\u00a0 Likewise, just because someone learns the basics of playing the violin doesn\u2019t mean they have the talent to become a virtuoso performer.\u00a0 How then do we identify the people we want to be on our leadership team\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0. . . maybe not today, but at some point in the future?\u00a0 After all, most people don\u2019t walk around with \u201cLeader\u201d stamped on their forehead.\u00a0 So how do we spot them?\u00a0 What do we look for?\u00a0 As you might guess, this is the hard part.<\/p>\n

    In his book, \u201cTraction: Get a Grip on Your Business,\u201d author Gino Wickman offers some clues on how to start sorting through who in your organization has real leadership potential and who does not.\u00a0 He advises looking for someone who:<\/p>\n