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The Paradoxes of Leadership - What we've Learned in 20 Years

by Bonnie and Roger Neugebauer
March/April 1998
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Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/the-paradoxes-of-leadership-what-weve-learned-in-20-years/5012006/

In the past 20 years, we have had the opportunity to observe hundreds upon hundreds of leaders in action in child care centers. In addition, we have had 20 years to develop our leadership on the job as we struggled, sailed, failed, and succeeded in growing Child Care Information Exchange. From all of these experiences, we have learned a few things about the paradoxes of leadership.


Paradox #1
You need to enjoy your work, but you can't avoid the uglies.

Pop psychologists are forever advising "if you're in a job you don't like, get out of it." Easy for them to say. For many people, finding a fun job is simply not an option - there are simply not enough Ben and Jerry's taste tester jobs to go around.

However, for nearly everyone, there are parts of one's job that are enjoyable and parts that are wretched, parts that are stimulating and parts that are boring. In a perfect world, you would be able to delegate the drudge jobs and hold on to the exciting ones.

Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world. While there are many mundane tasks you, the center director, can delegate, there are certain ugly ones that you can't give ...

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