The Myths of Leadership 领导迷思

There are myths of leadership, which are misleading to those who desire to be leaders.

The first myth is that a leader always leads. In many incidents, the leader must lead and there should be people following him. However, the leader at times is a follower of someone in his team. He does so because he is aware that he is not the expert of everything. A certain team member who is his subordinate may be better than him in doing a specific job. Therefore, he chooses to follow and submit to the instruction of that member as far as the specific job is concerned.

The second myth is that a leader always decides. Indeed, if the leader always make decisions, there is likelihood that he would make some wrong decisions. As the leader also subjects to conflict of interest and moments of unstable emotion, he should let others make decision rather than he himself during such critical circumstances.

The third myth is that certain type of personality can make a better leader. This is not true as every type of personality can be a leader. As long as the leader is prepared to function according to one’s role and responsibilities rather than one’s own personality, the leader has the potential to be a good leader. A leader may be introvert in personality, but is required to socialise and be decisive due to his responsibilities. He can still functionally sociable and directive but privately quiet and non-insistent.

The fourth myth is that a leader has to be lonely. In fact, a leader doesn’t need to be lonely. It is his choice to be as lonely as he wants it to be. There are people with whom he should try to relate to and share with them for better leadership and personal needs. If he does so, he is not lonely.

Therefore, whoever is prepared to take up leadership must first dispel the myths about leadership.

有一些领导迷思已经误导了好些希望成为领袖的人。

第一个领导迷思即是一位领袖必须一直领导。在许多事上，领袖必须领导，也应该有人跟随他。然而，一位领袖有时会是他团队中某人的跟随者。他这样做因为他意识到他不是每个项目的专家。他的某个下属在做一些特定的工作时可能比他更专长；因此，就这特定的工作而言，他会选择遵循并接受该成员的领导。

第二个领导迷思即是一位领袖总是决策者。实际上，如果领袖总是要做出决定，他就可能会做出一些错误的决定。由于领袖也会受到利益冲突和情绪不稳定的影响，他应该让其他人而非自己在有关的尖锐课题做决定。

第三个迷思则是認为某种类型性格的人会成为更好的领袖。这种看法並不正确，因为每种类型性格的人都可能成为领袖。只要一位领袖会按照他领导的角色和责任而不是根据个人性格发挥作用，他就有可能成为一个好的领袖。例如一位领袖在性格上可能内向，但由于他的责任而需要进行社交和决策，他仍然可以在功能上进行交际及發出指令，但私下却保持安静和不坚持。

第四个迷思即是指领袖必定孤单。事实上，领袖並非一定孤单，因为他是否孤单乃是一个个人的决择。为了要达到更好的领导及个人需求，领袖应该找到一些人进行彼此联系及分享。如果他如此作，他就不至于孤单。

所以，任何准备担任领袖的人都必须首先除去有关领导的迷思。