Leader or leech? 5 ways to tell

Some “leaders” are just flat-out leeches.

Kind of a gross mental picture, to be sure; but given that this type of leader can suck the very lifeblood out of an organization, it seems apropos.

You can tell a lot about leaders by how they treat an organization. Is the organization there for their benefit? Or are the leaders there to serve the organization? There’s a huge difference, and it’s pretty easy to tell the difference if you look hard enough.

Here are five ways to pick out a leech who’s masquerading as a leader.

1. Leeches use their organizations simply as vehicles to attract the spotlight for themselves.

Is the organization just a platform for the leader to trumpet his/her accomplishments? (Quick FYI: I wrote the post I just linked to in the last sentence two years ago…well before somebody’s foray into politics.) It’ll be easy to tell, because these leaders are often fairly obvious in their attempts to do what it takes to be in the spotlight. Believe it or not, these leaders may even say out loud that they want the accolades from others.

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