Why Should Anyone Be Led by You

By Rob Goffee, Gareth Jones

Too many companies are managed not by leaders, but by mere role players and faceless
bureaucrats. What does it take to be a real leader–one who is confident in who she is and what
she stands for and who truly inspires people to achieve extraordinary results? Rob Goffee and
Gareth Jones, state that leaders don’t become great by having a list of universal character traits.
Rather, effective leaders are authentic: they deploy individual strengths to engage followers’
hearts, minds, and souls. They are skillful at consistently being themselves, even as they alter
their behaviors to respond effectively in changing situations. And Goffee and Jones draw from
extensive research to reveal how to hone and deploy one’s unique leadership assets while
managing the inherent tensions at the heart of successful leadership: showing emotion and
withholding it, getting close to followers while keeping distance, and maintaining individuality
while “conforming enough.” Underscoring the social nature of leadership, the article also
explores how leaders can remain attuned to the needs and expectations of followers. The authors
agree with other research – that leaders need vision, energy, authority, and strategic direction.
But then they also emphasis that great or inspirational leaders also possess four completely new
qualities:

 They selectively show their weaknesses; by exposing some vulnerability they reveal they
are approachable and human.
 They rely heavily on intuition to gauge the appropriate timing and course of their actions.
 They manage others with “tough empathy.”
 They reveal their differences, capitalizing on their unique qualities.

People want to be led not by a person with a fancy job title or a manager who has amassed a vast
chunk of organizational power or territory. Employees will choose to follow only a real, live,
genuine human being who reveals some of their humanity, values, personality, and even
vulnerability. It all comes down to three key areas for leaders as they craft the nature of that
space between themselves and their employees:

1. Knowing yourself
2. Managing the balance in a number of aspects of your relationships
3. Engaging in what they call “Situational Sensing”