I posted a week or so ago about that challenge of becoming a leader, commenting how effective leaders become more of themselves rather than copying someone else. The rest of the programme caused me to wonder yet further.

The whole programme concentrated on iconic leaders in industry and politics. This is fair enough and I do not want to deny the role of such leaders. However, the majority of leadership roles sit much ‘lower down’ in organisations and I would love more attention to be paid to leading in/from the middle of an organisation.

Every team and department has its leader, every social club, every boozing party, every sports team… – and that leader faces many challenges familiar to the iconic heads of the organisation. Indeed, one might argue that, because they have to deal with their own bosses as well as team members, they have bigger leadership challenges.

Very few of us will ever reach the dizzy heights of Prime Minister or Chair of Marks & Spencer, yet many of us will face leadership challenges as we try to take others with us on our journey. Many of the attributes and capabilities are likely to be the same, but how does leadership from the middle differ? I will be looking out on this topic over future months, expect to hear more…