They Don't Want Your Position

Great leaders explain and 
welcome innovative thought.

I've heard of great leaders who fell, because they worried too much about people "stealing" their position.

Sad, but true.

There are insecure people in positions they have no business in, because they stifle creativity in people. And they want to control them. They think independent people are a threat to what they know, so they try to keep them in their place. They hinder innovative thought, because they think they are the only ones who are the "great thinkers." As a result they lose great people, because people eventually go where they're appreciated and valued. It makes no difference how brilliant the leader thinks he is in his own mind, people will leave in a hot minute. 

Great people will go where they're respected. 

Money or title makes no difference, micromanaging, threatening, intimidation or manipulation don't work either. This has happened a few times in my life and I left people and organizations each time. I've always been a big picture person who wanted to know the vision. My mind was always questioning the "why" of things to know where we were going. That made me a better team member, because I knew the direction of the organization. A leader who explained those types of things to me was a leader I was willing to go the distance with. I didn't need to know everything, because I wasn't the leader, but it helped to at least know the part I played in the direction of the organization or the relationship. Getting my questions answered made me work harder even if I didn't agree with every decision the leader made.

Suffice it to say, if you're in a leadership role and you have a huge turnover in great people, maybe it's time to reevaluate some things. The people "under" you may just want to get better, not your position. They may really enjoy working for the organization and with you. No leader can keep a trailblazer down for long, because that's how God made the person. No leader can inhibit a person who desires to be great themselves, because that is what God put in them. So why not be great together?

You want great people in your organization? Leave them alone and let them run with the ball.They don't want your position. They want to do the best job they possibly can for you and the organization.

This is a great video by John Maxwell on leadership (the entire video has great information, especially at the end).

This is a great story of leadership (the book of Esther including Esther and her cousin Mordecai, who were both leaders).


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