People like being told what to do

nicoleandmaggie

Aug 16

This is a post I started back in 2013! Here's my notes. Let's see if I can create the post!

I'm not crazy about it. But in general, as an adult, i've noticed people don't want to take responsbility be blamed

people who want to lead are leaders talk i went to

don't try to stomp out bossiness... today's bossy kids = tomorrow's leaders

I don't like being told what to do usually. I'm one of those who will dig in my heels when someone says "you should" when I've already thought about the topic and decided I don't want to. Lots of how I live my life is based on me wanting autonomy. That said, there are some situations where it's easier just to be told what to do-- Co-Pilot is nice for not having to figure out what exercises to do when. Someone else figures all that out. Back when I went shopping with a friend who enjoyed being a personal shopper I was happy to stay in the dressing room and to try on and buy what she told me to. But in general, I like deciding what to do myself. Being a professor is a pretty good job for my personality in terms of the amount of me deciding what I want.

But, I've noticed though some people don't like being told what to do, a lot of people do. Far more people, in fact. People like not having to think. People like having someone else take the responsibility if things go wrong. People like to say they were just following orders and someone else should be blamed.

I went to a talk something like 15 years ago where someone who studied leadership came in and told us what characteristics leaders have. And almost all leaders share the characteristic that they want to be leaders. People who want to lead do. Whether or not they're good at it, there are enough people that want to be led and enough people who don't want to take charge that there's room for a lot of people who do want to take charge to do so. They're not necessarily good leaders, but they are leaders.

Back 10 years ago, I still had a kid in preschool, and people were always apologizing for their "bossy" daughters. But it's not bad to be bossy. We need people to be bosses. Today's bossy kids are tomorrow's leaders. They might need some training on listening and communication, but the telling people what to do part isn't the problem. That's an important skill that we need some adults to have.

Do you like being told what to do? When do or don't you? Do you enjoy leading people?