Leadership

Have you ever wondered why leaders so often speak so much without saying anything of substance or detail?  Why does everyone seem satisfied with that?

In business, communication is key.  But what makes for good communication?

The answer is brevity, simplicity, elegant minimalism.  A good rule of thumb is to remove every word you can without losing the meaning.  Less is more.  Also, use basic language over jargon.  Familiarity aides comprehension and readability.

With this in mind - what is the boiled down essence of leadership?  The simple answer is to move a group towards a common goal.  To set priorities and to generate consensus.   This is the purest aim of leadership.  Information and details are often the enemy of consensus.  Details muddy the waters, and create openings for disagreement.  Thus "Big picture thinking" is what leaders specialize in.

Then what is leadership not?  A leader is not a teacher, a friend or a problem solver.  The larger the group, the less relevant any such status becomes. In a small group, where one-on-one interaction with the leader is more relevant, like-ability and other traits may be more useful.  Everything else - if it doesn't directly contribute to group consensus, then it's not leadership.  This includes accuracy, detail, like-ability and other niceties, which can even work against that goal.

Even if you personally don't like your leaders, you'll probably still follow, or at least co-operate with your group that does, which is the desired outcome.

Some world leaders have caught their biggest critics by surprise with their inter-personal charm in smaller settings.  This is not to say personal charm is a needed trait, but demonstrates that they have understood the irrelevance of certain traits on the larger stage.  Adaptable leaders are able to tailor their persona and their messaging to the context.  “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”  A leader who understands these points will not waste their energy or their words trying to achieve the impossible. When dealing with a large group, they understand their goal - not to be liked, but to direct the group.  Since it's impossible to tailor messaging to everyone at once, it becomes necessary to sacrifice detail, like-ability and other irrelevant niceties.