You don't need a title to be a leader

Terry Pratchett is probably one of my favorite authors. While most view his work as fantasy, his fans see it as great literature. It shares with other great books penetrating insight into the human condition.

I’ve been reading Unseen Academicals. If you do, you can’t but notice Glenda Sugarbean, the Night Kitchen cook. As Lord Vetinari says, “That’s a Sugarbean woman for you, little domestic slaves until they think someone has been wronged, and then they go to war like a queen, with chariot wheels spinning and arms and legs all over the place. [...] One can only hope she doesn’t take it into her head to enter politics.”

She reminds me of another great Pratchett character, Granny Weatherwax, the old witch who really can’t do magic, but somehow is more powerful than any of the wizards.

There’s something to be learnt from these characters about quiet leadership. How selflessly they can focus on the outcomes, how single-mindedly they fight for the right cause, how little they care for perceptions or what others might say. Their spirit of sacrifice.

My friend and ex-boss Mike Zirngibl gave me one of the most thoughtful gifts of my professional career, a little book by Mark Sanborn titled “You don’t need a title to be a leader“. I got it at a time when he must have seen me particularly turmoiled, when I exuded ambition from every pore. Funnily enough, he did give me a bigger title soon after. But I think he was trying to make me see that anybody who seeks leadership is scaring it away. That we all have a choice.

We either want change or we want recognition.

If you work for recognition, change escapes. If you work for change, you may never get recognition.

The only true recognition, though, comes from effective change.

And how you act defines you.

So you must chose.

If you do things to get noticed, you will dillute the impact of your actions.

If you do things to change the world, you must be ready to go unnoticed.

Eventually, though, the world sorts itself out.

Whatever you position may be, work to affect change for the better around you. Stay out of politics as much as possible. Focus your energy on the outcomes. Don’t worry too much about how things look. And, if you deserve it, recognition may eventually come.