Is it important for each member of a team to be a leader?

At school or at work, I’ve experience something: leadership is somewhat frowned upon by some French leaders. They almost see this characteristic as a flaw.

According to some of them, leaders are seen as controlling and one-dimensional individuals, barking orders from their “ivory towers”. These are limiting beliefs, even though their actions are typical of potential leaders.

This led me to reflect on the quality of leadership and its importance. Not only should the person in charge be a leader, but their collaborators should be as well, and their collaborators, and so on, as much as possible.

Being a good leader is anything but synonymous with individualism, submission, or subordination. In reality, a good leader serves not only their own interests but also the interests of others. They are a true guide for those around them, yet they are not hesitant to delegate or demonstrate a participative or communicative leadership style.

So, shouldn’t the spirit of leadership be present in each member of the team in order to strengthen its effectiveness and maximize its strengths? I believe so. Let me explain.

Things that I learned reading John C. Maxwell

The writings of John C. Maxwell have deeply inspired me. This American author and leader has been dissecting leadership for nearly 40 years. He has published numerous works, including “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” in 1998, which has greatly influenced me.

Leadership has been present since the dawn of time in human societies, and its basic pillars have hardly changed and will not change by tomorrow because it is not an idea created by humans but a quality directly present in the natural environment, which will persist even after the disappearance of Homo sapiens.

Maxwell thus describes the foundations of good leadership: respect, trust, preparation, empowerment, influence, and sacrifice. In addition to this, he tells us that a leader must do everything to surround himself with leaders in order to maximize the power of their operations, regardless of their nature.

Leadership is somewhat innate, but it can be learned over time. So no one is left behind; it’s not inaccessible. Such an approach allows several things.

What does leadership permit?

It helps to ensure the success of the operation by creating an empowered and confident team. In detail, we understand that this can trigger 3 things.

An addition and accumulation of value: by serving others, the leader adds value. This addition promotes efficiency exponentially.

It produces influence: a leader’s power is often measured by their ability to influence. Influence is “the ability of an individual to influence the ideas, opinions, and actions of others.” An association of leaders could thus be perceived as a mess of egos and individuals seeking to influence each other in a cacophony of manipulation. No. That’s a cliché, and even if it may be the case, it reflects poor basic leadership, which often leads to nothing but implosion and failure. A leader never forgets the human aspect and always places it at the center of their attention (hence the Law of Respect, the Law of Trust, or the Law of Empowerment), thus eliminating any serious problems of this nature.

It multiply growth: surrounding oneself with people who do not value or attach any importance to their leadership is not a concern if one wishes, for example, to add growth to their organization. But if the goal is to multiply growth, the solution would be to surround oneself with potential leaders.

How can a leader attract leaders like themselves?

It depends primarily on their leadership ability. The higher the leadership, the more it attracts great leadership. For a leader with a 10 out of 10 in leadership, Maxwell generally says they will attract leaders at levels 8 or 9. A leader of these levels will attract leaders at levels 6 or 7. And so on.

However, the goal is to surround oneself with leaders of similar or even higher levels to maximize one’s potential and increase it. This is what he calls the Law of Magnetism coupled with the Law of the Inner Circle. It is the people closest to us who also determine our ability to succeed and take the lead.

The result of my personal observations

I have personally observed Maxwell’s observations, whether in my personal life or in my professional life. One of the first criteria of Leadership that struck me the most in my personal life is that of responsibility.

A good leader is responsible for their actions, and they know it. They are present and participate in the projects we put in place. Without this, they can never be considered viable, and their leadership is ruined.

I observed this in work groups at school, for example. A person who did not deign to take on their responsibilities, even by their presence, was automatically discredited, and this for the entire group. They are inevitably destined to follow behind.

The second criterion complements the first: trust. We cannot hope to be a leader if we do not instill trust among our peers. I observed that the first layer of information that allows us to identify a good leader or not is the human aspect.

Empowerment, trust, respect, a kind of soul supplement, these are qualities that we look for in the person we eventually want to follow. A group where several people do not even have the basics of leadership will have difficulty achieving its goal. On the other hand, when everyone is confident and ready to help others, the capacity and potential of the group are multiplied.

These are the first steps towards good leadership. Add to that the awareness of leadership and a willingness to improve on this characteristic, and it is most likely very good leadership that, in the end, will be observed.

My conclusion

It is clear that a leader must do their best to surround themselves with leaders or at least people who have identified leadership as an important quality and are ready to work on it. The power of a group is partly determined by this factor, in addition to expertise.

Good leadership does not include selfishness or misplaced ego or harmful manipulation movements. So, in my opinion, it is not advisable to create a team of leaders. If the roles are well defined and everyone finds their place, the talent machine can only be beneficial.

A more experienced leader can go even further. Their role is the same except that they strive to do everything to improve the leadership of those around them. I say experienced because this ability is often found only in the most confident and enduring leaders. In fact, they have understood that helping others encourages the said other to become even more attached to the leader and their judgment.

Thus, we follow the leader for who they are, what they represent, and what they do for us. It all comes back to the human aspect and the principles of trust and soul supplement.

This leadership, which composes each member of the team, allows confident delegation of responsibilities that one would not dare to delegate with comrades who are not leaders. This thus reinforces leadership on all sides.