The Grit of Leadership - By Another Name

The word “leadership” often conjures images of a charismatic wo(man) delivering a riveting pre-game speech that inspires an underdog team to victory. Hollywood and our attention-deficit tendencies have done quite a number on the craft of leadership. While a leader may, can, and should inspire people, the ability to verbally deliver lightening a bottle is a mostly overrated element of leadership. Leadership is much more nuanced than this.

Contributing to this warped perception is the much-maligned cousin of leadership – management. It is fashionable to distinguish leadership from management. In fact, in much of the current leadership philosophy, it is commonplace to look at leadership and management as separate entities with a tendency to paint management as the devil-horned antagonist to the halo-laden protagonist of leadership. 

My experience and reflection as a leader lead me to a separate conclusion. Admittedly, it is glamorous to think of a leader as an inspiring visionary who motivates his/her team to greatness. This may be glamorous but it belies the actual heavy lifting and the daily grind that effective leadership requires.

Consider an NFL quarterback that is often heralded for his leadership – Tom Brady. What we see on game day is only the tip of the iceberg of what Tom Brady does to hone his leadership skills. These other activities provide him the foundation, confidence, and credibility to be the effective field general we see on Sunday. Consider the amount of work he devotes to physical conditioning, studying the playbook, watching film of the opponent, practicing plays, and considering likely decision points in the upcoming game. Without this work, the effectiveness of his leadership would fall off a cliff.

Effective leadership requires a healthy dose of grit to execute the grind of the leadership challenge. Leadership requires a lot of heavy lifting and that heavy lifting is “management.” Skills such as delegation, planning, risk management, prioritization, communication, critical thinking, and decision making are skillsets of management that are elements of management that require practice . . . relentless practice, just like Tom Brady’s work off the field. Of course, effective management skills do not, by themselves, make a good leader but I would challenge anyone that claims these are not necessary prerequisites for effective leadership.