Do you ever see someone who looks like a leader and who talks like a leader? I do. Recently I have been reflecting on what I call "the leadership persona." This can be defined as the public face of the leader. But, do we look beyond the public face?
Often what we find is that the image is only an illusion. One can cultivate leadership dignity and a careful way of speaking and thus project an image of leadership.
As I thought about some positional leaders, I wanted to probe more deeply in their persona. In some cases, there is very little below the surface. The surface has been carefully cultivated and groomed to project "perfection." It is a performance that has become part of the person's very self.
But, as one goes more deeply, one finds there is almost nothing of the deliberative, thoughtful leader below the surface. There is caution, yes, but also uncertainty rather than decisiveness.
So much attention has been placed on creating the outer leader image that there is little of substantive leadership below the surface.
As a classic movie buff, one of my favorites is Cary Grant. Grant never won an Academy Award for a single performance although he may have won some sort of lifetime achievement award. But, he deserved an Academy Award for his greatest performance, that of the creation of Cary Grant. Grant focused very much on creating that public persona. Sometimes when filming he would respond to a request thus: Cary Grant would not do that. Grant had a firm image of the persona he had created and how that persona would react and behave.
So too does the illusory leader. That individual knows how he or she should respond as a leader and follows that formula.
As we examine leadership we should become aware of what is illusion and what is real leadership.
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