The Other Side of Leadership

Written by: Malavika Ram

Edited By: Krishnna Pratheesh

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We’re all aware of the situation the United States is in right now - from Donald Trump’s multiple abuses of power and refusal to just pack it up and go home; to him misusing his status as President claiming false election victory, wilfully lying about voter fraud, and above all- inciting violence to stop the Congress certification of a democratically elected President. The whole country is still reeling in the aftermath of this incident, terrified of another civil terrorist attack that’s being anticipated once again during the oath taking ceremony of President Elect Joe Biden on the 20th of January this year. The simple fact of the matter boils down to bad leadership.

Take note of the words I’ve highlighted in bold in the previous paragraph, and ask yourself - do I know someone like that?

Most of you reading this are in middle school. We’ve had multiple instances where someone was made to be a leader for something or the other, considering the fact that we go to an IB school, where leadership is valued to the point that it’s analyzed as a skill in PE lessons.

And some people are fantastic leaders - the kind everyone automatically looks up to, as if it’s an instinct. The kind of leaders who just take the reins without being asked to, like it’s second nature to them. These are the kind of people we look at in admiration, or maybe a little resententment - after all, who doesn’t want to be a natural leader, right?

But this article isn’t one that’s going to sing the praises of these kinds of people - there are millions of articles like that out there already. This one is about the opposite kind - the true middle-school leaders that seem to be surrounding us.

Before I go on, let me be clear: this is a leader who, in other words, is immature. In middle school, where we are made to experience leadership and followership, we’re given the chance to showcase our real mental age in terms of ability to deal with “undesirable” situations. Situations in which, unfortunately, the most immature types of people are exposed. Anyone who’s had to play the follower role in leader-follower scenarios, and participates in school events and/or groups, like the student council, independent organizations, or clubs, will at least have a basic understanding of what I’m talking about.

The immature leader is the true middle-schooler in every situation, and no one likes being told what to do by a (figurative) 12-year-old.

This kind of leader may be very nice on the outside, but they talk ill about the people they lead behind their backs.

This is the kind of person who micromanages, and doesn’t trust you to complete your task. Some examples of this would be people who insist on being consulted before making every tiny decision, being copied on every email, being given edit access to every document, etc.

This kind of person takes credit and passes blame. They’re quick to claim every effort as their own, and want to be the only one to stay in the limelight, but when something goes wrong, who do they blame? The people working under them.

As you probably know, a good leader is someone who does the complete opposite. They give honest but mindful feedback to a person’s face, appreciates their effort, trusts them to do tasks competently, takes blame for unplanned mistakes, and shares credit with the whole team. In other words, they’re mature, and are old enough mentally to handle the true behind-the-scenes definition of leadership.

Being a toxic middle-school leader means giving your followers reasons to build up resentment towards you. Eventually, you’ll be the one to find yourself being whispered and complained about behind your back, and you’ll be seen as a bully, rather than a leader.

If you happen to be a leader or aim to be someday, please ask yourself if you think you exhibit this kind of behavior and if yes, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate. Don’t be a middle-school leader..

Leadership is about vision and responsibility, not power.

-Seth Berkley