Why do some leaders lose their followers?
“Sssshhhh!” whispered the commander as he anxiously signaled for his squad to take cover.
As he peaked through a jagged crack in the cement wall, he saw the faint shadows of the enemy scampering about in the ominous watch tower before them. He instantly turned to his squad and gestured furiously for them to huddle around.
“The enemy is at our 12 o’clock! There is at least a dozen of them. And we are easily outnumbered outgunned by them as well. But here is the plan. We are going to be splitting into two units. Alpha unit will be staying here and will be laying down cover fire. While the enemy is distracted, Beta unit will follow me. We are going to flank them from the right! We will be on top of them even before any of they can even say “Chuck-E-Cheese”!” The commander snarled a big toothy grin as he savoured the imminent taste of victory in his mind.
“We attack on a count of 3! One…. Two….”
But before the commander could signal his team to leap into action, a small little hand tugged firmly on his sweat soaked t-shirt.
“Daaaaaaaad!” whined the small delicate voice. “Me and Clarissa want to go to the trampoline park!”
“Can’t you wait for this last round of laser tag to end? Your old man is a seasoned veteran of the US army! I have never lost a single firefight and I am not about to lose today; especially to a pack of squabbling kindergarteners!” barked the commander.
But before he could even finish his sentence, his two daughters had already slipped out of their big bulky vests, tossed aside their flashing laser blasters, and were cartwheeling towards the entrance to the trampoline enclosure. They didn’t want to follow him into the fire fight, because they didn’t really care about winning the match.
Even though there some people who may be highly skilled in a various arenas of life, they may still never function as a leader. For people will only follow leaders who possess skills in the specific area that they are personally invested in and passionate about.
