The Oxymoronic Leader–A List
The Oxymoronic Leader is not one person. He is all of us. I have been him and so have you.
Merriam-Webster defines an oxymoron as:
“a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness); broadly : something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements”
Am I leading if the adjective used to describe me is contradictory or incongruous to what a leader really is? No!
The Oxymoronic Leader
I may be a micromanager, an autocrat, or a hypocrite, but I am not a leader.
Here are some terms that describe me or other leaders in my past. We were all Oxymoronic Leaders at one point or another.
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The Unethical Leader
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The Self-Serving Leader
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The Crowd-Pleasing Leader
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The Passive Leader
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The Indecisive Leader
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The Risk Averse Leader
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The Indispensable Leader
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The Infallible Leader
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The Deaf Leader
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The Distant Leader
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The Intractable Leader
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The Completed Leader
The Bottom Line:
If I am an Oxymoronic Leader the first step is admitting it. The good news is each of these oxymorons describes a current reality not an inevitable destiny. In other words, if we recognize we are being that Oxymoronic Leader, we can change!
I will spend some time describing these Oxymoronic Leaders in future blogs. You may see yourself in some of these stories. My hope is the absurdity of these stories will urge each of us to become better leaders in the future.
Question:
Which of these Oxymoronic Leaders describes you or who you were?