It should come as no surprise that statistically most of us are not born leaders.  Though running a business or managing a department, does force the issue, creating unwitting, unprepared and usually poor leaders of many of us. 

Being a leader is tantamount to being a risk taker, which is essentially the same thing as being an entrepreneur.  Yet, many people become managers because it pays more salary and seems like a better job than what they have been doing - only to find as managers, they needed to take risks by making difficult decisions.  The result is managers the world over are looking for ways to get out of managing.  The benefits of management (prestige, control, money) are enough to keep them managing so that employment remains intact, but there are parts of their lives they would gladly give up and management is at the top of that list.

If you are typical, you have a sense about where to head with each decision, but fear of some sort is holding you back.  But not trusting your instincts leads to inaction, a choice - a decision-by-indecision - is typically worse than the wrong but more proactive choice.

How do you recognise a leader?

It is natural to expect an observed example of leadership ability to manifest itself in various situations.  But the exaggerated expectation of consistency is a common error.  We are prone to think that the world is more regular and predictable than it really is, because our memory automatically and continuously maintains a story about what is going on, and because the rules of memory tend to make that story as coherent as possible and to suppress alternatives. Fast thinking is not prone to doubt.

The confidence we experience as we make a judgment is not a reasoned evaluation of the probability that it is right. Confidence is a feeling, one determined mostly by the coherence of the story and by the ease with which it comes to mind, even when the evidence for the story is sparse and unreliable. The bias toward coherence favours overconfidence. An individual who expresses high confidence probably has a good story, which may or may not be true.  A good actor does not make an effective leader.

When a compelling impression of a particular event clashes with general knowledge, the impression commonly prevails.  And this goes for you, too.  The confidence you will experience in your future judgments will not be diminished by what you just read, even if you believe every word.

Improving Reluctant Leaders

A new book, "Managing Right for the First Time," by David C. Baker is a field guide for reluctant leaders who were promoted for the wrong reasons.  The author writes, "You cannot work too hard to avoid the inevitable greyness otherwise called management.  Instead, you should be trying to do the right thing, looking for ways to clarify your own plans for this group of people.  After all that deliberation, in the end you must step back and do it because it's the right thing.  Or at least because you think it might be, which could very well be as much certainty as you'll get."

"If you want to improve, the key is to do it, while listening to a few principles in the background.  Here are a few of those principles:

First, just do it.  Unhealthy management environments are marked by managers who are doing the work of the firm instead of managing people of the firm.

Second, get a coach.  Any personal struggles will boil over into your management experience.  If you are struggling with your personal significance, intent on controlling every aspect of life and work, or highly fearful of confrontation, working through those issues will be time well spent.

Third, get a life. Quit trying to please everyone, particularly employees.

Fourth, articulate your personal vision.  What do you want to do when you grow up?  How does your current role fit into that plan?

True leadership is always mixed with some reluctance because it's always messy.  But you must move beyond your reluctance to lead, recognising that you'll never shed that reluctance that properly comes from wanting to know you've done the right thing."

Source: The New York Times Magazine, October 23, 2011