For the past five years, I’ve noticed an increase of articles providing “tips” for being a better leader.  Basically, the tips fall into one of four categories:

• Value your people and treat them with respect
• Communicate vision and goals clearly
• Provide feedback and on-going development
• Hold people accountable

LinkedIn is full of such articles and people seem to marvel over their “insightful” advice.

I don’t have an issue with these kinds of tips.  They are critical for leading.  My problem is the fact that we need to provide them to leaders.

This stuff is Leadership 101.  If you need to tell your current leaders that their job and responsibility is to take care of their people, perhaps you have the wrong people in leadership positions.

If your leaders aren’t taking care of your people, what are they doing?  What was it about them that compelled you to put them into a leadership position in the first place?

If you think that you are just one good leadership development program or one set of leadership tips away from having good leaders, you are in for trouble.

Leadership is about people.  It always has been.  The fact that this seems to be a new revelation or insight is concerning.

Don’t put someone into a leadership position until they’ve demonstrate that they have the attitudes and behaviors of a leader.  Leadership development shouldn’t be about building leaders.  It should be about honing and refining their abilities.

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Brad Kolar is a speaker, consultant, and author with Avail Advisors.  He can be reached at brad.kolar@availadvisors.com.