Myths Vs Truth

I read this on today's Straits Times article regarding leadership and I find it most appropriate to share with my readers here (for the benefit for those that didn't manage to get hold of today's copy of the Straits Times).

Myth No.1 : Position or title equates to leadership.
Truth : People do tend to equate position or title to an individual leadership qualities, especially in Singapore's context. The truth is, there are a great number of people running organisations today who may not be good or even acceptable leaders !

Myth No.2 : Tenure or longevity equates to effective leadership capabilities.
Truth : Any success you might have had could have been due to luck, timing, pure hard work, will power or and combination of these. Its definitely not relating to the tenure in the organisation for over numerous years which literally does not mean you are any where near being an effective leader.

Myth No.3 : Leadership is an education process.
Truth : Trust, respect and confidence are earned and not anything which you can learn in a classroom.

Myth No.4 : You can build leadership attributes through books and related literature.
Truth : You can read all the books on leadership but until you are most willing to let go of some of your beliefs, attitudes, opinions, prejudices or paradigms and have all the knowledge on leadership in the world, you can still fail as a leader. Studying ain't enough, it takes understanding, wisdom and precise execution.

Myth No.5 : Senior citizens with greying hair are the most effective leaders.
Truth : I know of many young individuals who are in their twenties having outstanding leadership qualities as well.

Myth No.6 : To be a leader, you have to be in charge of something or somebody.
Truth : Being a leader is not about being in charge of anything or anybody at all. You can be a MacDonald counter girl and still have leadership attitude on your roles and responsibilities.

Myth No.7 : In order to lead, you need to have followers.
Truth : Leadership doesn't mean you have to be in front of a group, you can also be in anywhere working in a department alone and still display leadership qualities.