Episode 009: The Myth of the Solitary Leader

I always thought I was the smartest person in the room.

OK, so I still struggle with that major fault, but when I first became a leader seven years ago, my ego was uncontainable. To make matters worse, I based my vision of leadership on what I call “the myth of the solitary leader.”

To me, leadership was personified not by the coach getting hands-on with his team but by icons such as Bill Gates secluding himself in a cabin for a week to think big things. That was my vision…the solitary leader who single-handedly uses his genius to solve every problem, launch every new initiative, and change the world. I would, in my dreams at least, become a superhero, a caped crusader for my causes, and surely everyone would buy in to everything that I wanted to do.

The only problem was that I was wrong. Very wrong.

That's the topic of today's podcast. I share my struggles with this and the 3 reasons solitary leaders fail at decision making compared to a group.