Have You Experienced The Feeling of being an “Accidental Leader”?

Accidental Leaders are all around, they’re the people who say:

• They just landed their job,

• It accidentally fell in their lap or

• That their position at work just happened

 Let me ask you, when you were younger:

• Did you plan to be in the career you’re currently in?

• Did you dream of it as a child?

• Go to college and train for it?

• Or did you happen to fall into this position you’re in, accidentally ending up where you currently are?

 I encounter people all the time, while training in companies, even executives who’ve been:

• Promoted out of their natural ability

• Are without the necessary qualifications

 (This accident, in many cases a travesty, is also called “The Peter Principle”.) People in this position find themselves muddling their way through, without the necessary training, or influence to truly be effective.  They not only frustrate themselves, but everyone around them with their insecurities and endless need to feel important.

Now I have to explain, that although I don’t believe in accidents, the way I picked up this moniker is that one day while working on the largest project of my life, I thought to myself, “How in the world did I get here?”  You could argue I was at the right place at the right time, however I thought, I’m an “Accidental Leader”.  That project provided the impetus for me to then take the appropriate action to acquire a greater level of qualifications, to fill in the gaps of my training and knowledge that prepared me for future projects.  You may have a similar story regarding how you landed where you are, but don’t let it be an excuse for poor performance!   My mission, and privilege is now to coach people to avoid being an Accidental ______anything, and instead to become “Strategically, Intentionally Excellent!“