Balloon Ride

Have you ever taken a hot air balloon ride? I haven't but I hear you can see for miles on clear days and it is a fun and exhilarating experience. I would like to tell you about two leadership styles that I came up with based on the following story. This story is not my own I found it on-line and unfortunately I do not remember where I found it.

I took a hot air balloon ride and there I was floating over the landscape and enjoying the scenery when I realized I was lost.

Fortunately I saw a man on the ground so I reduced my height so I could speak to him. I got closer to him and I shout

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"

The man on the ground replies "You're in a hot air balloon hovering thirty feet above this field."

"You must work in Information Technology." I reply back to him.

"I do," says the man "How did you know?"

"Well," I said back, "everything you told me is technically correct, but it's no use to anyone."

"You must be in business," said the man.

I told him I was and I asked him how he knew.

"Well," says the man, "You don't know where you are, you don't know where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met but now it's my fault."

I like to call these two styles the Balloonist and grounded style of leadership. Both are not the best kind of leadership styles. The balloonist style is the type of leader who is lost and doesn't know what to do. They have no direction or vision and instead of accepting the blame they look for someone else to blame.

The grounded leader is the type of leader who knows a lot of useless information. They don't really offer any information that helps the business grow or helps the workers grow. Instead they spout information and making it look like they know everything.

If you are one of these types of leaders or know someone who is find a better leadership style because these styles will drive people away.