“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Who could forget the ever-famous line from Spiderman, spoken by Peter Parker’s uncle: “With great power comes great responsibility.” In the movie, society expects Spiderman, a comic book, TV, and movie superhero, to take responsibility for saving his town or even the world from evil because he has super powers.
Indeed, he never lets us down. With the power he possesses, he makes sure to be responsible in using it for the good of the people around him.
Leadership is not all that different from being superheroes. Yes, you may not have super powers like Wonder Woman and Spiderman, but you have the power to lead other people towards success. This is so much greater and stronger since it is a power that can be used by real people in this real world.
Being a leader requires a great sense of responsibility.
The power to lead your people toward your vision comes with responsibilities like making sure they are working in the right direction, being aware of each and everyone’s tasks and getting them back on track when needed.
Who said it is easy to be a leader? Well, it’s not…It comes with tons of responsibilities. True leaders are willing to accept them all.
There are instances where sometimes it can be tempting to blame somebody else when something goes wrong on a task.
A leader should take full responsibility. HIs role is to communicate the vision and priorities clearly, then set everyone up for success. He has to coach, guide and provide feedback and recognition.
Model the behavior you expect from your team.
With competing priorities and back-to-back changes, some balls may get dropped. What a leader should do is to accept the fact that something went wrong, even if it is not his fault. It is normal that we cannot always deliver as planned or promised. These situations are opportunities to learn something. As a leader, this is a coaching opportunity. He should ensure that the team members learn from these misses and that they know what to do next time. Model the behavior you expect your employees to display in response to problems.
You are not expected to have full control over other people’s actions, but you have full control of your own reactions. Some of my more demanding clients find this challenging! Knowing how to handle unexpected and unpredictable situations makes you a trustworthy, responsible leader people will be proud to follow.
Ingrid Kelada
Business Psychologist/Happiness Expert
KCC Inc.
