Wait, I think that's the 'Lord of the Flies' plot...

It would be very easy to sit here and rant about bad leaders whom I’ve served under so far in my life. Who doesn’t love to complain? I’ll bet there is a decent chunk of bloggers who use the faceless persona of the internet as a punching bag when they want to bitch about whatever is bugging them. I digress, however.

So far most of my leaders have been bad. How do I know they were bad leaders?  Some have been selfish individuals who have used their leadership position as a way to advance themselves and only themselves. Some leaders have been completely detached from the group and simply enjoy the title of ‘leader.’ I have had leaders who micro manage, leaders who knew nothing about the task at hand, and leaders who couldn’t take the stress of responsibility and cracked.

Why are they bad leaders? My first answer is that most of them lacked experience. When we are younger, you have instructors: parents, teachers, coaches. Their instructions are to be followed only because they have to be. They are not your leaders. There is no group goal to be achieved, just a risk of detached personal loss. Quite simply, you do what you or told or it is game over. If you don’t follow what they say you are punished, failed and booted, respectively.

Leaders are your peers, and when younger they are your team captains, your assignment group mates, and your friends. You follow them because you put them in charge. But when you are young you have no experience, so oftentimes your peers don’t either. As you age, your leaders (bosses, elected leaders, etc.) are still your peers, but they have been around the block once or twice and have gained experience with both leading and following, which makes them a better leader.

The next big issue is simply a lack of maturity. I have often seen leaders who jumped to the top of a hierarchy because they thought it was going to be fun without considering the consequences. When their responsibilities caught up with them they were blindsided and rendered useless. They didn’t take the time to appreciate what leadership meant, which also happened to allow them to (for lack of a better term) embezzle from the group whatever resources were available.

I know that as you move up in age brackets the quantity of bad leaders doesn’t asymptote to zero, but the reasons won’t be related to lack of experience, perhaps it will be the overabundance thereof. Perhaps that by learning exactly what leadership is we also learn how to use it selfishly, but that is an argument for another day.

I will say that the quality of leadership has been increasing as I have gotten older, which leads me to believe my reasons for poor leadership among youth are valid.  It is, in my eyes, clear evidence that leaders are made, not born.