Is your boss a dictator???

[philipuso]

Send him a copy of this: Why Your Boss is Programmed to be a Dictator

In the context of leading people, who is a leader? There is already a vast amount of material out there dedicated to answering this very question. Most of the material, if not all, states that a leader is someone who has multiple abilities: the ability to inspire, motivate, serve, set visions, craft goals, communicate, delegate, manage conflicts, praise, ?lead from the front?, facilitate, give constructive criticism, empathize, sympathize, be a team-player, and so forth.
These skills answer the question, ?What skills should a leader have?? but do not explain, ?Who is a leader?? The answer to ?Who is a leader?? is profoundly simple: A person who?s been elected to lead by the people he?s leading. We have a different word for someone who assumes power and leads without being elected: dictator.
In organizations today, the term ?leader? is tossed around without any real understanding of the word. It?s important to define ?leader? correctly because it affects how people behave.
How so? There?s a hidden factor that causes people to behave the way they do.

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Anandtech Moderator - bsobel