"If I were in his place, boy! would I be happy."
"I could run this department better than he does."
"His father bought him the job. Anybody could be where he is with that kind of money."
Remarks like these could fill many books this size. They could be quoted from vice-presidents as well as from menial laborers. No doubt, you have heard them in your company. You have probably uttered some of them yourself-or, at least, thought them. It is only natural.
On your more objective days, however, you surely know that it is never as simple as that. The people in positions above you may not always have taken the best route-or even be the most qualified-but somehow they got where they are and you haven't-as yet.
An amazing amount of mediocre leadership exists in the business world, because leadership ability is rare and is difficult to teach. The only thing this or any other book can do is offer pointers, but such advice will be wasted if you have the wrong personality traits for the job.
Before proceeding any further, therefore, we must indulge in a little careful self-analysis. Wait for your least emotional period and examine your qualifications next to those necessary for the position you are after. If you have just finished composing a few mental poison-pen letters to your boss, wait a few days for your self-examination.
Now that you are calm and collected, ask yourself seriously, "Do I really want my boss's job?" Your answer to this question should take into consideration a number of factors:
1. Are you the kind of person who would be happy as a leader or manager?
2. Is your boss's job a dead end?
3. Is your specialty in your profession one which will lead to upper echelon jobs? Have you chosen the right career?
4. Is your present company right for you?
Leadership is most conspicuous when it is absent. Without the creative initiative which only leadership can offer, an individual or business enterprise will inevitably drift with the trends created by others. It is this lack of leadership-this drifting with prevailing social, political and philosophical trends - that threatens to destroy the nature, purpose, and effectiveness of American industry. - Tom Comella
The abilities required to make an ideal employer are so great and so numerous that very few persons can exhibit them all in a very high degree. Their relative importance, however, varies with the nature of the industry and the size of the business; and while one employer excels in one set of qualities, another excels in another; scarcely any two owe their success to exactly the same combination of advantages. Some men make their way by the use of none but noble qualities, while others owe their prosperity to qualities in which there is very little that is really admirable except sagacity and strength of purpose. - Alfred Marshall
Success is like a pair of shoes. The same size doesn't fit everyone; and success can be very painful when it rubs sores on the ego. - Alma Birk
The principal characteristics of leadership are easy to identify. Specifically, a leader can be recognized because he: is goal-directed and self-motivated; exercises and in spires initiative; possesses genuine self-confidence; has the ability to concentrate; uses creativity and imagination; and knows how to motivate others to action. - Paul J. Meyer
It is a mistake to think that great success and greatness are the same thing. - Anon.
Women can probably stand pressure as well as men, and are less prone to debilitation because they release their emotional agitation more freely. Women who have families and homes certainly demonstrate the capability to perform continuously under sustained pressure. The contemporary suburban home is a very complex institution with pressures from the children, school, church, charities, other organizations, and pesky salespeople. The housewife probably makes more decisions that involve emotional strain than many a hard-driving executive. - Albert H. Mahrer
Leaders, whether they are in government, education or business, cannot afford the luxury of escapism. They have to do something about the world rather than turn their backs to it. And in order to do anything, they have to see the world as it really is, not as they'd like it to be. They have to develop sensitivity to their environment, rather than immunity from it, and a responsiveness to change. Above all, they have to understand people: what they think, what they want, of the values they hold, how they react. - A. N. McFarlane
In short, whoever you may be, to this conclusion you'll agree, when everyone is somebody, then no one's anybody. - W. S. Gilbert
