You were hired to do one job. Then you got a promotion. And then another. And another.
Some of us went to business school.
Others went to trade school.
I went to communications school.
But where was the leadership class?
Who taught us how to build those critical muscles?
A friend recently shared a study of 4,500 workers and managers across the UK that found 82% of people entering management positions had received no formal management or leadership training.
If that holds true, only 18 out of 100 are stepping into management with formal preparation for the job.
The rest?
Accidental Leaders.
From my seat advising executives and high performers, I see many wrestling with what I call The Two L’s:
1. Loneliness.
Leadership is hard. The higher many climb, the more alone they feel. And isolation has a nasty side effect: we start asking fewer questions exactly when we should be asking more.
2. Losing.
Losing time. Losing relevance. Losing sleep. Losing their best people.
It’s a lot to navigate.
Maybe some of it is imposter syndrome.
More often, it’s too much to do, too little time, and not nearly enough attention spent developing people into leaders.
Being great at your job may earn you the promotion.
It doesn’t prepare you to lead.
You may have become a manager by accident.
If you’ve been leading without a roadmap, welcome to the majority.
As an Accidental Leader, you’re hardly alone.
The question is: what are you going to do now to become a more intentional one?
