In today’s competitive business landscape, successful leadership is often portrayed as assertive, visionary, and highly ambitious. However, an equally powerful yet often overlooked archetype is the reluctant leader.
These individuals do not actively seek leadership roles but are thrust into them because of their expertise, integrity, or sense of responsibility. Despite their initial hesitation, reluctant leaders often prove to be exceptionally well-suited for complex, people-centric environments, where ethical leadership is highly valued.
A reluctant leader is someone who has stepped into a leadership role, not out of ambition or desire for power, but because of a necessity within the team. These leaders will usually shy away from leadership, preferring to focus on their specific areas of expertise. However, when their environment demands strong leadership and the absence of a suitable alternative becomes apparent, they feel compelled to take on the role.
I believe that when creating your working environment, you need to think of what will help your employees feel as though they are supported and part of a team. Unlike more assertive leaders who may prefer to dictate direction, reluctant leaders will prefer to work with their team in a way that fosters collaboration, empowering employees to contribute more actively to decision-making. I find this helps me lead with an open mind so we can find solutions as a team.
I never saw myself as a leader. I never really thought I would become a business owner either, but when you go to the bank with your business proposal or when you are standing in front of potential investors, you are rarely thinking about the possibility of you having employees that you are responsible for. I started Tiny Box Company because I knew there was a gap in the market for sustainable packaging. There needed to be a company that offered smaller businesses the option of ordering without a minimum order quantity. I never thought about how 17 years later, I would have 100 employees looking to me for direction and answers that quite honestly, I don’t always have.
For some, leadership comes naturally, however, for many of us who, if possible, tend to avoid the spotlight, then sometimes leadership can be a struggle, especially at the beginning while you are still finding your bearings. Becoming a leader demands that you learn a new set of skills, one being the ability to have hard or sometimes awkward conversations with staff members.
I remember one of the first awkward conversations I had to raise with an employee. We had an employee that was putting in for overtime, which was fairly normal, however, we soon realised that this employee had been exaggerating the extra hours worked and had actually joined forces with an employee of a business next door who had been doing the same thing. This employee had overlooked that we had CCTV, so naturally, I asked to see the footage and had to confront the employee with it. For me, this was one of the first uncomfortable conversations I had to have as a manager, and I remember feeling incredibly nervous beforehand and not feeling much better afterwards. In fact, afterwards, I felt unequipped to deal with conversations like that. It was not in my nature, although over time, I have gotten better, and now I remind myself of one of my favourite sayings, “suck it up Buttercup” and tell myself it is part of the gig, so you need to get on with it.
When you are in a leadership role, it is critical to remember that your behaviour filters down through your team. You need to remember that people look to you, especially as the CEO. I know my senior managers often look to me for guidance on how to run their departments or manage their team, so making sure that I am leading by example is key.
I think one of the hardest parts for me has been realising that your employees are not always going to be your friends. You need to be firm but fair and be kind but still be able to have those awkward conversations if needed. One of your new job roles is going to be keeping your team together and keeping everyone on track for the greater good of the business. Steve Jobs said, “You know who the best managers are. They’re the great individual contributors who never ever want to be a manager.” Sometimes you must step up because you know you can get the job done. You may have never seen yourself as a leader, but as soon as you step up to the role, you must acknowledge the responsibility that comes with it. Becoming a leader pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to become comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Read more:
The Reluctant Leader: A Powerful Shift in Business Leadership