Currently working with a relatively small community bank on some leadership training, I have run into a fairly new challenge. I have no trouble connecting with new leaders and helping them become better in their leadership skills. I do it all the time. However, the group I am now working with includes a young lady who more or less refuses to be a leader. In our first of five sessions together, she more or less stated as much, saying she does not like giving direction to her tellers because it creates conflict. They give her the cold shoulder every time she tells them she needs them to do something.

It sounds to me like she simply does not want the responsibility of leading. I even asked her why she accepted the promotion to Head Teller, to which she never really replied, at least not directly. I think the bottom line is that she saw a raise in pay and took the position without considering the ramifications. Now her branch manager is frustrated because she won't take action, she is frustrated herself because of expectations being thrust upon her, and her subordinates are walking all over her because they know they can.

As I have said many times, leadership is not for the feint of heart. It takes courage to stand up for your subordinates while still getting them to do what you need them to do. It also takes the realization that you, upon accepting a leadership role, become one of "them," rather than one of us. This is especially true when promoted from within, as this young lady was.