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Our expectations of leaders

by Simon Longstaff

What might we reasonably expect of our leaders? Some look to an ideal of exemplary behaviour where leaders embody all that we hold to be of value. Others have extraordinarily low expectations. Indeed, in these days of wide-spread cynicism, there is a tendency to dismiss people in positions of leadership as being invariably insincere and self-serving.

This might be because people occupying leadership positions are not leaders (as such) but, instead, 'mere managers' who have scrambled to the top of the greasy pole. Alternatively, the poor standing of some leaders might be a symptom of popular disenchantment with virtually every institution in society.

While idealisation and cynicism represent extreme ends of a continuum, it is important to recognise that both positions tend to be untenable for the same reasons. Firstly, each perspective denies the 'humanity' of our leaders. That is, extreme points of view fail to take into account the fact that people do not (and possibly cannot) occupy a fixed point on the spectrum of virtue. Rather, we tend to oscillate around a point being sometimes better and sometimes worse that we would hope to be. Each of us enjoys varying degrees of success in pursuit of a good life.

Secondly, each extreme position seems unaware of the extent to which we project our own needs and biases onto the character of our leaders. I often wonder at the way in which we demand of our leaders that they reflect not only our conscious expectations but also those associated with our shadows. Should we acknowledge that there are times when we require our leaders to do the 'dirty work' that we are not prepared to do ourselves and then condemn them for doing so?

It seems fairly obvious that such times do arise. So, what are we to expect from our leaders? Should our expectations be limited to the extent that we participate in creating the conditions under which leaders work? Or, is this to miss the whole point about leadership? Specifically, are true leaders those who go beyond the display of personal virtue (however imperfect) in order to inspire and draw forth the best from each of us?

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