Some leaders will never become great leaders because they are too afraid that they’ll irritate people with the decisions they make.
Statistics show that the average person gets irritated some sixty times per day.I’m sitting in traffic only to see a car speed past me on the right. I can clearly see (so I know that s/he can too) a merge left sign in the lane beside me, but s/he continues to speed forward and sure enough someone lets him/her into the lane I’m in. I’m irritated.
The poster tells the story of that irritation and every other one that I have. Someone or something is not living up to my expectations. “They shouldn’t be doing that,” is the thought that races through my brain – fueling the irritation.Put another way . . . people get irritated when I don’t make their world the way they want it to be no matter how unreasonable the vision of their world might be.
If the average person gets irritated sixty times per day, what are the chances that s/he’ll get irritated when I’m in their presence? Pretty high I would guess.
Leaders need to understand the anatomy of an irritation so they don’t get dissuaded in the direction they’re taking their followers merely because someone is going to get (or already is) displeased or irritated. Taking a vote and doing what the majority wants has never been the definition of a leader.
Categories: Conflict Management, Sociability
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