Hero or Host?

She was talking about changing attitudes to leadership in her business – one of the larger world development charities.

The first difference was that she was an elected leader – not parachuted in, but chosen by her peers to lead them.

They’d had some inappropriate parachutists recently; they wanted to try something different.

The second change was in leadership style, which she called the move ‘from hero to host.’

‘A hero imagines they have to do everything themselves,’ she said. ‘Micro-management which disables those around them. A host, however – or a good host, at least – is someone who creates a climate in which others thrive and shine. The hero and the host are quite different approaches to leadership. In our business, we’re looking for hosts at the moment.’