Leadership comes with some privileges, but mostly it comes with lots of responsibility. As a matter of fact, any privilege that a leader is afforded should be tied very closely to that responsibility. If a leader feels privileged because the he or she thinks that they are better than his or her followers, the danger light should come on and stay on until this conflict is rectified. For example, if as a leader you have the services of an assistant because it helps you have more time for your followers, or more time to earn revenue which in the end benefits your followers, this is a good use of your resources, and it’s justified. On the other hand, if you misuse your assistant, or any one of your followers, because you don’t want to deal with the negative aspects of your work, your actions are neither justified or a wise use of resources.
Misusing human or any other type of resource is not a good leadership skill.
It’s highly unlikely that anyone reading this article would be guilty of such an abuse of leadership power. However, what might be an issue is the justification of actions that make perfect sense to you because they help you to move the mission of your company or organization forward, but they make no sense to your followers. It’s important for leaders to remember that the perception of your followers is their reality. If your followers are consistently saying a particular thing about the way that you lead, whether you perceive it to be the truth or not doesn’t matter. It is the way that your leadership has made them feel.
Never has the axiom, perception is reality, been more true than in leadership situations.