Skip to content

Who wants to be a leader?

A lesson in humility

Spriter Gors
Jul 17, 2026 · 2 min read · 1 read
1

To lead is an important job. It's not easy to be a good leader: you must be charismatic, and ensure that all members following you are happy, motivated, organized and able to pass your ideas forward. You have to be held accountable when bad things happen, and mediate any problems that might spring up in your group.

 I don't think of myself as a good, innate leader. I would rather stay in the lower ranks, on my own accord, working diligently not in the front lines, but in the background. And yet, I've been picked to lead some projects in my life, and while I don't really like to be in this role, I managed to successfully do my job.

 Most of these were low-risk activities, such as hosting art activities, moderating groups on the internet and setting up servers with friends. But some of them were of higher risk: tasks in my real life job, creating reports and developing auxiliary tools to help people who have troubles said reports.

 After such experiences, it came to conclusion that sometimes, a good leader is the one who doesn't really want to be one.

 The biggest problem nowadays is that much power is given to people who eagerly want it. Many leaders out there are insatiable, and would do anything to hold a position of power and face no accountability.

 I've seen biased choices in forums, group chats, servers and sites, validated and exacerbated by people who allow it to happen, be it due to affinity, sycophancy or just lack of interest. And this phenomenon probably could explain why so many bosses and CEOs are extremely out-of-touch: these people were never stopped when they were supposed to; their actions became bolder and brazen with impunity; and they snowballed and wedged themselves into those positions, becoming hard to remove them.

 This is not what true leadership should look like, and I abhor it.

 This eagerness and desire to sit on top of fellow members of the group, for no discernible reason other than self-importance, is a poison that kills any group from within. The position of leader is that of humility, and people in these roles should always show it in their actions.

Did you enjoy this article?

Recommend it — Standard Reader surfaces well-loved writing to more readers across the network.

Across the AtmosphereDiscussions