The Leadership Deficit

Leadership is one of those areas that has been studied to within an inch of its life, as though we can analyse it and reduce it to a set of replicable parts. But, unfortunately, in doing so, I think we have done the subject, and ourselves, a great disservice. We have killed the magic.

And there is a magic, an alchemical aspect, to leadership. It was described to me by someone for whom I had enormous respect when he said, "the heart of leadership is simple. You have to know what you are prepared to die for. Everything else is management." While I accept that this is a simple description of a complex subject, it does cut to the chase.

There is a limit to the number of people we can lead. Leadership requires a visceral connection that builds and sustains trust and mutual recognition. In a small organisation, it might be possible for one person to lead, and common sense and science align when it comes to numbers. Even someone with the charisma, capability and communication skills of a parag…