It's about the Leader / It's not about the Leader

There are a lot of books and articles that exhort their readers to practice certain behaviours or adopt a certain list of attributes so that they will become good leaders. 

But is it really that simple?  Are there other factors, not those of the leader, that affect the success of the leader?  

By my reckoning, the characteristics of the leader account for less than half of the factors that make leadership successful.  They include such things as:

• Vision and the ability to communicate vision,
• People skills,
• Technical skills in the activity in which he is leading,
• Courage,
• Grace, and
• Tenacity. 

But sadly, research evidence tells us that most of us are influenced by other, less noble, characteristics.  Even though they would not admit it, many people are highly influenced by prejudicial and superficial factors.  

More likely to follow	Less likely to follow
Tall	Short
Appearance of fitness and energy	Appearance of lethargy and poor fitness
Thin and trim	Balding and overweight
Male	Female

Obviously, these characteristics have nothing to do with whether the person is a good leader or not, but it is clear that some of us have prejudices to overcome!

But even with all this, probably only about 40% to 50% of the leader's success is due his own characteristics. 

There are two other huge factors that make it possible or impossible, hard or easy, for a leader to lead in a certain situation; they are the situation and the followers.

The Situation

In "The Admirable Crichton"1,  the butler Crichton takes over the running of the family of aristocrats when they become shipwrecked on a desert island, and everyone, including the Lord of the Manor, follows his leadership.  When the household is rescued and the crisis is over, he returns to his humble servant role, and life resumes as though it was never interrupted.  Crichton's leadership was highly situational.  

There can be a host of reasons why someone is a good leader is some circumstances and not others.  For example, a Western leader may be too consultative or too informal for an Eastern environment, or a new leader's followers may have had a negative experience before he came on board, or the situation may call for a high level of technical expertise in a certain area. 

Taking these things into account, I reckon that the situation accounts for about 20% to 30% of the success of the leader. 

The Followers

There are so many factors about the followers that can affect the success of the leader.  Here are just some common scenarios.

The Disgruntled Competitor

There is someone in the group of followers who thinks he should be the leader.  He has the capacity to gain support among the followers and disrupt the legitimate leadership. 

The Non-Believers

There are too many in the follower- group that have different values to that of the leader.  For example, if the leader wishes to lead the group in an evangelistic effort, but they do not believe in the value of evangelism, he is unlikely to be successful. 

The Limited but Keen

The followers may want to contribute, but have limited capacity.  They may be elderly, infirm, or of limited capacity.  As much as they want to support the leader, they do not have much to give.  Ironically, some of these people are the most keen and most excited about the mission. 

The Freeloaders

Sadly, in almost every Christian congregation, there are a number of people who are just in for the free ride.  They really do not want to contribute.   When the leader's claim on their time and commitment gets too hot they are most likely to slip away at best, or stay in the congregation being disruptive, at worst. 

So the nature of the follower group will influence the success of the leader, maybe as much as 20% to 30%.  

So What?

So, what should the potential leader who is armed with this information do?  Here are a few things to consider. 

1. As leaders we should do all we can to be the most effective we can be, even though there are many factors we have no control over.  We should make it our life's work to continually improve our leadership skills and to overcome the things that could be a barrier to acceptance. 

2. Remember that there are occasions when the situation or the nature of the follower group may be such that you cannot be effective as a leader.  It is OK not to be successful in every single leadership situation.  You do not have to blame yourself.  Cut yourself some slack.   Understand that sometimes it is outside of your control. 

3. If you are a leader of leaders, remember that sometimes the combination of leader, followers and situation is not going to work.  Be prepared to recognise when this is happening, and allow the leaders you lead to step out of situations that are not working with dignity.

1. A comic stage play written in 1902 by J. M. Barrie.