



Redefining Leadership

(and your role in your organization)

Tyler Durden: You decide your own level of involvement!

– Fight Club 20th Century Fox

"There are two types of people in the world: those who push and those who sit back and enjoy the ride. Who do you want to be?"

I grew up with a lot of these sayings separating those who "do" and those who "do not do enough". We have a culture of elitism, which is great for some—but what about those who don't want to change the world? Those who want to enjoy work and be good at it, but also have a family and a life outside of work? Those who are looking to fill a role? Those people are belittled in our culture. Business books ask, “If you aren't reinventing yourself; your image; your brand, then what are you doing?”

When did being "good" become "not enough"?

Our culture of exceptionalism is working counterintuitive to a productive business model. Most of us were raised in communities that rewarded leadership, extroversion, and Type A personalities. The truth is that not everyone is looking to be a CEO or a lead on a team—so where does it leave those people who just want to get by? A company needs a diverse community, if everyone is leading, nothing will get accomplished. This post will help you discover your place by framing what you are working towards, and how to best perform in that capacity.

To begin, when planning your future, having a goal or desired outcome is important. Take a moment to give an honest assessment of where you are and where you would like to be. Strip away the social attachments and only think about where you want to be in your career and the lightest-feeling goals. Think about your “future state” while you read this post and be open to additions, subtractions, and revisions.





Lifelong Amateurs vs. “Going Pro”

I spend a lot of my time with other writers. The difference between a good author and an author who sells thousands of books is about eight hours a day. Someone at the top of their field spends significantly more time working on their craft. This is typical in most fields. The difference between “good” and “pro” is if you do something as a hobby or if it is the center of your life.

Anyone can write a book if they spend two hours a day on their craft. Some good self-published authors do. Writers who sell books and win awards spend somewhere closer to 10 hours a day on their craft. If your goal is to self-publish online and have a small cult following, two hours a day may be your number. If you want to sell books and have people show up when you give a reading, you will need to spend closer to 10 hours a day on your craft, deeply focused, typing, reading, researching, and talking craft and theory. Not everyone wants to commit to that kind of a lifestyle. Whether it be writing, programming, or starting your own company, if you decide to “go pro”, it works best if you love the process. But what if you don’t want to “go pro”?

If your goal is to become a VP or CEO, expect even more of a commitment; 12 hour days are not uncommon for VPs and CEOs. Vodafone, CEO of Vittorio Colao is on the move from 6 am until 10:45 pm. In a Business Insider article, Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment, “gets up at 5 in the morning, sometimes earlier, and immediately starts sending emails until her kids get up. She has family dinner scheduled at 7:30 p.m., but works again after that, sometimes for as much as two hours, prepping for the next morning's meetings.” Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, said he only spends 50 to 60 hours each week in the office or in meetings. However, outside of the office, Facebook is always in the back of his mind. Zuckerberg went on to say: “But if you count all the time I’m focused on our mission, that’s basically my whole life.” But what if you don’t want to be a VP or CEO?





You Don’t Need to be a Leader to be Successful and Happy

As a culture, we have placed too much weight on being a leader. In our “everyone gets a trophy” society, the value of leadership has changed: being a subordinate is now “degrading” (can I even use the word ‘subordinate,’ or did your stomach just tense into a tiny ball? Yikes!). Yet, how can we expect an organization to function if everyone is a leader? If everyone is an anarchist, no one on your team will be on the same page, but the similar is true if everyone tries to impose order.

Although I believe that everyone has the potential to be a leader, many choose not to act on this potential because they don’t want the responsibility and pressure that comes along with leadership.