Why Leadership Vacuum?

Why is this project named Leadership Vacuum? What is it really about? Be prepared for an honest answer, as always.

I suck at leadership.

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I have tried to think like great leaders, but it is quite difficult. If certain leadership qualities naturally exist in people, then I was not given any by default!

My track record as a leader is poor.

When I led others as a child and teenager, it usually ended up in trouble.

In my twenties, eleven ten-year-old boys looked to me as their camp counselor for a week. But I was too soft and wishy-washy. I accept full responsibility for ruining the week for most of them!

Worse still, I was once fired for my inability to lead and manage others! It was devastating, and exposed gaping flaws.

Most days I can hardly lead myself.

Thus, I began to hope leadership is not important. Maybe I can squeak by without needing much.

However, as I begin to grow and seek wisdom and study the lives of influential people, the importance of leadership is undeniable. This was hugely disappointing to learn, since I felt at a big disadvantage!

When you remove all of a substance and put nothing in its place, you are left with a vacuum.

The vacuum of leadership is my own.

I lack leadership. To satisfy the imbalance, I have tried to put other things there. Things like charm, intelligence, and getting lost in the crowd.

This did not work one bit.

I finally realized nothing can successfully fill the void where leadership needs to be. Anything which tries to take the place of leadership does not belong, and it will soon be replaced by something else, and something else after that.

Until leadership is eventually found and pulled into place.

This project exists as a playground to explore leadership. It serves as a laboratory to analyze life experiences and extract from them bits of wisdom.

This is a place for us to learn from good and bad experiences in leadership.

To understand why, not just what or how.

And maybe then, our abilities will grow as we are naturally inspired to improve them with regular practice.

The goal is to fill the void which can only be satisfied by leadership. Starting from right here. Right now.

Here goes nothing.


What is one consequence of a leadership vacuum?

PS — This marks two hundred posts! It’s been 15 months of three posts each week, and Leadership Vacuum is just beginning to mature into something meaningful. Thank you, Reader, for keeping me company on the search for wisdom and the journey for growth.