the mask of leadership

I am not a leadership guru. John Maxwell and Andrew Bawa are.

In fact, you could say I don’t know what I’m talking about when it comes to leadership - why? I haven’t been a leader for that long and I am still cultivating the habits and attitude of a leader. 

What I definitely know about are my efforts to become a leader. At the moment, I lead a number of teams - in my business or at organizations I am affiliated with. I try to lead by serving - understanding and playing according to the strengths and weaknesses of my team members - then using that to fuel a collective bargain and force. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong but that’s what I have done so far. 

One thing that has became apparent to me is that as a servant leader, it is too easy to wear a mask. To have a certain leadership persona that may be at odds with your true values or personality. What I mean is certain leaders, in the bid to seem emotional intelligent, create a series of false impressions by presenting themselves as perfectionists, social bees or aggressive when in fact they are not. They only wear a mask because it fits their own ambitions.

A while ago, I learnt that wearing a mask as a leader never works. So I switched it up - and now I believe and know that, as a leader or servant leader, you must be willing to lead authentically. 

Let your strength and weaknesses be seen. Lead in accordance with your values. Let your team members feel and know that you have their best interests in mind and that their efforts mean something not just to you but to the collective growth of the team. 

I believe that there are so many facets of leadership development but recognizing and removing the mask of leadership should be one of the first things every leader must tackle.