By Mark Van Ness
The message below was written several years ago but still rings true today with even more relevance given that global leadership affects so many lives, so we thought it prudent to rerun.
Do you ever wonder why we choose the leaders that we do?
Successful people win leadership positions based on their track record of high performance in comparable roles. What the candidate claims they will do is meaningless compared to what the candidate has actually done in the past. Company leadership checks the candidate’s references and public records to make sure there is no trail of litigation, burned bridges, or bad credit history.
Imagine what a disaster it would be if business leaders were chosen the same way voters do. We often elect government representatives with little or no experience governing. Instead of choosing the most qualified candidate, we often vote for the best salespeople, the best campaigners, who analyze opinion polls and tell us what we want to hear. Then we allow those unqualified people to appoint even less-qualified people (often donors) to key positions throughout our government. Would anyone invest in a public company that operated that way? Would such a company ever survive long enough to go public?
We have the power to be more thoughtful about choosing our leaders. There is too much at stake to make emotional decisions about who we “like” the most. In the last 10 years, Real Leaders has interviewed hundreds of successful leaders from all over the world. We often ask what they see as the difference between a real leader and a misleader. Their answers may be helpful for all of us to consider whenever we are hiring or voting for anyone in a leadership position. It’s up to us to choose real leaders in all sectors and to send the misleaders packing. Imagine the impact farsighted leadership could have.
