It seems to be one of the most common answers among my business students to the question of what they would like to do. The phenomenon seems to transcend cultures and educational institutions. Just about a week ago, while guest speaking at a UW-Milwaukee where I have never taught before, I got to witness an entire classroom of business majors who said that they wanted to work with smart, intelligent and creative people and that ideally their function in the group would be to lead it.
Needless to say, few if any of the students think about the responsibilities of leadership or the responsibility of ownership. As a person who has had to face the decision of letting people that I worked with for a log time with and whose livelihood depended on their paycheck go, because of my business mistakes, I fear we are creating a tremendous expectations gap between what we proclaim we want our young people to be and what those terms really mean.
Leadership and ownership are at least as much about the responsibility as they are about the benefits that come with the job. The world would be much better off if we had fewer leaders, people who lead, without having a clue as to the direction they are taking us.
Can you fire your best friend if that is in the best interests of the organization? Can you fire yourself? Are willing to admit when you are wrong, even if others, not you will suffer the consequences? Can you effectively manage your own life, before you start managing the lives of others?
It is admirable if someone wants to be a leader or an owner, so long as they remember to do it first and foremost in order to serve, guide and help, not to lord it over others. So, be a leader – serve. Be an owner – care.
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