5 leadership myths that lead to trouble

The shelves of libraries across the world and throughout time have been stacked with tomes and tales of what it takes to become a leader.

The sheer volume of volumes and literary collections detailing what it takes to become someone that can take charge and give orders, carry teams and armies to victory or simply run an efficient workplace… It’s extensive, to say the least.

Yet, despite all this talk of leadership and deep reflection from supposed leaders, there’s still no consensus on what it takes to actually be one… Aside from our leadership guide, that is.

Some academics, such as Linda Evans of the Manchester Institute of Education, have penned articles questioning whether leadership is a myth in and of itself.

However, the verdict is in for some persistent myths about leadership that still crop up to this day and this guide will present five of them.

“Too young to lead.”

If you’re not familiar with connectivism – don’t panic, as it’s a new framework that academics are using to reassess how people learn in the digital age. Fittingly, the concept first cropped up in a 2004 blog post but has since gone on to be critically analysed and adopted on a scholarly level.

As opposed to ‘adult learning theory,’ wherein an adult would accrue knowledge over time and learn through perseverance – the generation that grew up alongside the internet is flooded with information at any given moment.

Any query can be Googled and any answer can be found in the present day, but in the Information Age what matters most is how adept someone is at filtering through information to become a fast learner and an efficient decision maker.

In the same way that connectivism reimagines learning and acknowledges that knowledge is no longer contained in just one head, some scholars have suggested that a distributed network of leadership can offer more young staff the ability to take charge in their given niche.

“One leadership style fits all.”

Although some staff prefer a hands-off approach, others require approval, gratitude, training and attention. All staff need to feel valued in one way or another and as a leader, it’s your job to wear many different hats throughout the day.

In a 2011 qualitative overview of the aged care sector published in the International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare, findings revealed that staff were desperate for further training and jumped at the chance to take on more responsibility or leadership opportunities.

Despite the passion that the subjects of the study had for their work, the overwhelming consensus was that they felt undervalued or impeded by higher-ups.

As a leader, you’re always learning from your staff, from relevant parties and from your own actions, but unless staff are learning from your leadership, they will be held back from becoming leaders too. It’s important to adopt a style as per our guide, but it can be a hindrance to stick with it uncritically.

“Quality comes at a cost.”

Whether it’s more staff or expensive equipment, a higher quality of care does not necessarily require a higher price tag too. 

A report published in late 2022 on the quality of care in Australian aged care facilities concluded that many organisational issues can be chalked up to a staff turnover rate coinciding with grievances of feeling undervalued. 

Through communicating more with staff, delegating responsibilities and expressing appreciation, a leader can increase team retention and provide a stronger sense of supervision.

“You’ve either got it or you don’t.”

Despite the trope of so-called ‘born leaders,’ many leaders navigated life and climbed their way up through their career or developed the skillset throughout their livelihood. 

No one is born knowing how to steer a ship and command a crew, but through experience and learning, they might be able to set sail someday.

However, there is some merit to the idea of ‘charismatic leadership’ or ‘cults of personality,’ but as Stig Ytterstad and Johan Olaisen ascertained in ‘An Overview of Perspectives of Transformational Leadership,’ published in 2023, the traits that make someone suitable for leadership do not make them qualified or capable of leading. 

For most, the road to guiding others and being effective in a position which enables you to take the reins is through efficacy and an immaculate track record for progress – personally and professionally.

“If no one is negative, everything is positive.”

As a leader, whether you’re omnipotent or open, large and in charge or a quiet and passive member of the crew (leaders don’t always have to be C-suite or managers), you might feel that by keeping the ship afloat and not seeing the leaks, that everything is a-okay.

However, there are many reasons as to why you should be concerned or unsatisfied with a lack of feedback.

For one, it could be that people don’t feel comfortable giving you feedback or feel that it will hinder their professional relationship with you. Another reason could be that the business is stagnating rather than flourishing and change is eluding a team of people that are exhausted, bored and ready to move on. No matter the situation or circumstances, the research shows that it’s essential to keep an ear to the ground and maintain a steady stream of communication in order to ensure that your ship is sturdy, secure and setting off on a fantastical voyage to the next big thing.

With that in mind…

What were your thoughts on this guide to guidance? Do you feel ready to opine and refine your work in order to cut through KPIs like the visionary you are, or do you believe that there’s more to add to the Hello Leaders list of myths we wish would resign? Feel free to let us know through Facebook by clicking the link.