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Guest post by: Robert Whipple Become an Author

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The old stereotype is that the poor leaders are always playing golf with their buddies, out on the lake sailing for pleasure, or snoozing in the office most of the time, and the great leaders have a nose to the grindstone about 18 hours a day and are simply married to their jobs. While it is possible to find these two extremes in isolated cases, the stereotype of how hard leaders work is not as sure as we once thought, nor is it an accurate predictor of the caliber of leadership.

It is true that great leaders are always passionate about their work. This fact was highlighted in Jim Collins' book, Good to Great. After studying the leadership at successful companies for several years, the researchers boiled down all the characteristics that great leaders had in common and put a title of "Level 5 Leaders" on the concept. It is interesting that they came up with just two unifying concepts that all Level 5 leaders had in common: passion for the work and humility. Since great leaders are incredibly passionate about their work, does that mean they work harder? Not necessarily. Poor leaders may be working just as hard or even harder but not getting the same results.

Exceptional leaders, while passionate about their work, are also passionate about squeezing every last drop of experience out of living. Just as they have extreme dedication to their work, they also have a good sense of balance and make time to do other things.

Greatleaders delegate better. They have built up levels of trust in their people and organization that allow time to relax once in a while without feeling guilty. Delegating means letting other people steer the boat sometimes. Allowing others in the organization to shine often takes the pressure off the leader and reduces the tendency for burnout.

Poor leaders have problems with trust and transparency, so they must witness and be involved in every nook and cranny of the organization. Each decision must be personally researched and blessed in order to not make huge blunders. That is an exhausting task because problems are lurking everywhere. Marginal leaders are habitually overworked taking care of problems, many of their own making.

The lack of trust in poor leaders also means that problems do not get resolved efficiently. Each problem is like a plate of spaghetti, where each piece needs to be straightened out, washed, dried, and put back in the box. If the problem is two people fighting, the leader needs to have a meeting to find out who said what, when, and try to unscramble the mess until both parties agree with the solution or at least agree to go away mad. Each issue is infinitely more complicated to resolve in contrast to the situation where a great leader has managed to build an environment of trust. In a trusting environment, there are still problems, but they are like a temporary turbulence in the wind. You just pull in the sail a bit and keep heading in the direction of your vision with the wind at your back.

Mediocre leaders have a tendency to leave problems in their wake. The messes are often interpersonal issues. These leaders are in a constant state of damage control, battling simply to survive. They feel forced to work incredibly long hours in a futile attempt to outflank the problems of their own creation. Relaxation is impossible when you are in a constant dilemma between fight or flight.

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