I think that most people can get a group of people to a goal if necessary.
You can bribe, shout, punish, cajole, deceive, or seduce your way to a short term goal.
I don’t think that makes you an effective leader, however, as you’re not really leading anyone, you’re just getting people to get a job done by any means necessary.
Yelling only works for so long before people start sabotaging work or leave. Bribes only work until they can figure out how to get the money without doing all of the work. Lies can work – until the tangled web of lies becomes too complex and it all comes apart.
I think that true leadership involves a lot more work – it involves enrolling people in your vision. You can’t merely pay people off – you have to truly see them and their hopes and dreams and fears, and then align those with that of the larger group. True leadership is where people are willing to continue to ship project after project, and are willing to follow along for the long term wins.
It’s empathising with every team member, and uniting them, even if they disagree or don’t like each other or the project.
I would also bet that if you can do this effectively, you’ll find the amount of rancor and discord within the group to lessen.
So. Are you ready to step up and lead?
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