dictionary
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“Leader” Q
uick, what company do you associate with this statement: “We are a leader in the nation’s mobile phone sector.” Are you thinking T-Mobile? Orange? Etisalat? If you named any company at all, you’d be right. The fact is that any one of these companies would have occasion to lay claim to the ‘L-word’ in some regard, but mobile phone companies aren’t alone. Every business refers to itself as a ‘leader’ in one way or another. So, what’s the problem? The sad fact is that we can’t all be leaders. To lead, there must be followers. If nobody’s following, nobody’s leading. Worse than that, ‘leader’ has become a weasel word, a lazy way to claim you’re number one, even when you are quite aware that you are not. It would be preferable to state that “Ajax Chemical sold
more agricultural defoliants last year than all other companies combined.” That’s an accurate and defensible statement. It’s specific, while the bare assertion that “We’re the leader” is a barren boast, devoid of value to the inquiring consumer. The truth is, most firms probably are better at some aspect of their business than their competitors. We live in a ‘niche’ world. That’s why the so-called consumer choice awards have so many subcategories: By carving out tiny segments (“Best Uzbeklanguage newspaper in Poltava”) we can all be winners. Real leaders aren’t lazy, and they are honest. Before carelessly asserting that your company is a leader in its field, think of a more accurate, more informative and more specific claim, and use it instead. That would be showing real leadership!
The sad fact is that we can’t all be leaders. To lead, there must be followers