Are you a leader or a follower?
I am neither. Where leading is concerned, there is too much pressure and too many expectations from people to provide for them – which can never be fully satisfied in my estimation. It’s also impossible to please everyone or to get them completely on board to accomplish anything worthwhile without a lot of trauma or hassles. Also, being a leader is more often than not about having to control people. This usually requires the type of effort that goes hand in hand with a large ego – which leads to more tensions and resentments among those who are supposed to be following you.
Furthermore, being a “leader” over others often entails considerable self-sacrifice emotionally and psychologically that I would not be willing to put forth, nor do I want it consuming a great deal of my time. To be blunt about it, people are not worthy enough for me to sacrifice a big chunk of life to be responsible for them. This is especially true in a corporate setting. Being a team lead, supervisor, or manager could never pay enough to make it worth my while or to wreck any peace of mind I try to achieve.
Additionally, I don’t want anyone who would be following me to try buttering me up for something. Fake admiration, flattery, and trite, empty compliments are annoying. Things of that sort fill me with contempt and disdain. On the other side of the coin, being a follower doesn’t fill me with any enthusiasm either. Yes, I “follow” people on sites like Pinterest or Tumblr for instance because I like certain things they post there and we’re sharing about similar hobbies and interests. However, that is quite different from following people who try to involve people in religious cults and other destructive, mind-controlling movements where one of the chief goals is to fleece their followers financially.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s best to be aloof and detached as much as possible from either leading or following.
