Why Leadership is a commodity
One of the themes that emerges when one reads "how to make a million dollars" material is that 1) You need to start your own business and 2) Most people are afraid to start their own business.
This transcends simple risk aversion. When I was playin WoW, I noticed that most people were very reluctant to lead even a 5-person group in adventures. Why is that? What was the "risk" ? These people were very eager to play in the 5-person group, they just didn't want to "lead."
This same phenomenon shows up at work. Being the team lead on a project doesn't require any more technical expertise than being a "rank and file" worker on the project. It just requires the ability to stand up and take charge. So why are managers paid so much more than engineers? I think that the answer is "supply and demand." As rare as good engineers are, they are not as rare as people who are willing to take charge.
I think that a good consulting company could be formed just on the basis of coming into a situation and taking charge just long enough to find somebody who is already there who should be put in charge. I might just try that. Again, I'll let you know if I become a millionaire.
This transcends simple risk aversion. When I was playin WoW, I noticed that most people were very reluctant to lead even a 5-person group in adventures. Why is that? What was the "risk" ? These people were very eager to play in the 5-person group, they just didn't want to "lead."
This same phenomenon shows up at work. Being the team lead on a project doesn't require any more technical expertise than being a "rank and file" worker on the project. It just requires the ability to stand up and take charge. So why are managers paid so much more than engineers? I think that the answer is "supply and demand." As rare as good engineers are, they are not as rare as people who are willing to take charge.
I think that a good consulting company could be formed just on the basis of coming into a situation and taking charge just long enough to find somebody who is already there who should be put in charge. I might just try that. Again, I'll let you know if I become a millionaire.
posted by Simuloid | 12:24 PM
1 Comments:
This is a FABULOUS idea!!!! I've worked at companies who hired consultants who did that, even though I doubt they said that's what they were going to do. You know, it's all about semantics. You could totally do this, Steve!!
Kitty :)
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