Most people are eager to be leaders on their teams since leadership brings them money, status, reputation and power. However, we normally choose to be blind to the drawbacks of being a leader. This topic is touched upon by Mariana in her blog post “it gets lonely at the top”,(https://blogs.ubc.ca/mcmartinezrubio/2017/03/28/it-gets-lonely-at-the-top/ )and I would like to analyze it and give my own opinions.
Mariana indicated that opportunities come with a certain cost. Leaders have to help and motivate their subordinates and take responsibility for them, while no one is there to help leaders if they have problems. They need to make final decisions on their own, motivate themselves and find a balance between work and personal life. It is also true that some of them are isolated and conflicted with the personal relationship in workplaces.
From my view, I would say that not everyone was born to lead since he or she does not have the traits and the behaviors that can differentiate them from regular people. Unlike normal staff, leaders are supposed to know how to guide and manage others, which requires skills and abilities that not everyone has, such as public speaking skills and coping with stress by their own rather than take care of themselves only. Though some introverted people can deal with the relationship issues, it makes them uncomfortable somehow. Hence, leaders who do not have traits may feel helpless and stressed when they are in high positions. However, people with traits and behaviors that leadership requires may find these jobs easy, so they are not likely to feel lonely or overly challenged, and they are able to bear the burden of difficulties that leadership brings.
I am not saying that people with no leadership potential cannot be a leader; they can definitely get rid of their disadvantages by hard work and then be a good leader. However, this takes more energy and effort than it takes for natural leaders. Therefore, people should be aware of the disadvantages of being a leader and consider if they can deal with them easily, otherwise they will feel lonely at the top.
(Word count: 352)
Reference:
“It Gets Lonely at the Top” – Mariana’s Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2017, from https://blogs.ubc.ca/mcmartinezrubio/2017/03/28/it-gets-lonely-at-the-top/