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Listen to the coffee and backroom chatter and you will find the common perception is that leadership is all glitz, glamour and perks! Listen up! That is indeed a misconception! 

In reality, leadership involves hard work, tough decisions, and routines punctuated with often challenging and unexpected events. There’s more grit than glitter! If you were a Leader during the uncertainty and disruptions of the COVID epidemic, and more recently, US tariff threats, you would know it isn’t glitzy or glamorous, sprinkled with perks.  

Strong leadership can be best described as gruelling, demanding, with a raft of responsibilities that often require significant personal change and sacrifice. Simply said, leadership never ends. It’s a continuous journey of highs, lows, wins, and losses requiring self-reflection and improvement to be a true, effective leader. 

The unglamorous realities of Leadership include: 

• Accountability: The buck stops with you. The Leader is ultimately responsible for their team's successes but also accountable for failures. The pressure can be immense,  requiring reporting to a range of stakeholders. 

• Difficult decisions and hard calls. The leader carries the burden of being the bearer of bad news. Announcing job cuts, cancelled projects, and having awkward conversations are all part of the role. This emotional baggage can end up falling on the leader’s shoulders, not seen but felt. 

   

• Hard work & commitment. The role requires persistence, on-call availability, and is a constant grind. It’s rolling up your sleeves when needed, being there, involved, not just showing up.  

• Loneliness: it can be lonely at the top. The higher you go, the more people tiptoe around you. You are less able to confide in others as you are torn between the levels of ‘command’.  

• Continuous self-improvement: this is crucial, understanding self, emotions and behaviours to be an effective leader of others. Improvement, learning, and growth are essential and ongoing. This also underpins any doubts that lurk about imposter syndrome. Building a stronger you, along with a range of skills, is the best foundation for all concerned. 

• Leading by example: in words, behaviours and actions, setting the benchmark in acceptable standards, morals and ethics. They must also stand tall, walk the talk, and not just give orders if they are to gain the respect and loyalty of their teams. 

• Chaos & catastrophe: the unexpected does happen.  Financial shocks, COVID, or messy workplace conflicts can surface at any time. When everyone else is shaken up, the Leader is expected to remain calm, collected, and strong to provide direction and solutions.   

Glamour, Glitz & Perks 

Glamour and glitz! Wining and dining, opening night at the theatre, and the annual Leaders' ball. Free tickets to major sporting events! Other perks can include travel, bonuses, and don’t forget access to the airport lounge bar! All attractive enticements for some! 

Real Reward 

Dedicated, true leaders would say the benefits are not about personal acclaim or the pay packet. For them, the reward is being able to help influence and shape direction and  positively affect lives. It’s the satisfaction of seeing people and projects grow and succeed. Pride, connection, and accomplishment are the glitz, glamour and ‘perk’, the real reward of leadership. Is that you?