The Leader Must Be a Realist.

The more unsure a team or organisation is about its competence, the higher the level of hype and cheer-leading about its virtues. The boss talks them up, whistling past the graveyard of failure and incompetence.

That’s why the first job of a leader is to define reality.

The leader must be a realist.

The leader must seek out and soberly look at the evidence both before them, and presented by others who the leader must reassure their frankness will be respected.

The leader will discover for themselves what the silent majority already knows.

The first gift the leader gives her followers is sharing the unvarnished, and often painful reality with them.

This is a practical sign of her trust and reliance on them. Many will not be worthy of one or both. But that’s why leaders are brave. She only needs a few to hear her call and respond to it.

The leader can then authentically applaud the virtues of truth and trust she has witnessed in the team or organisation, rather than manufacture fake ‘positives’.