“The Duracell leader keeps going when other leaders have stopped. In fact Duracell leaders can last five or six times longer than an ordinary leader.”

Or so such an advert might read were the battery manufacturer ever to produce leaders.

We have all probably encountered ‘Duracell leaders’ at some stage in our careers. They are often forces of nature, tearing into situations where others might fear to tread. Their energy overwhelms us as we stand back and watch in awe. They go, and go, and go.

Yet in a peculiar way the Duracell leader can be as disempowering as the most dictatorial leader you can imagine.

For in my current role I’ve gradually come to observe  that every person’s greatest strength has the potential to simultaneously be their greatest weakness.

For example, the Duracell leader typically comes into a situation and transforms it due to their superhuman efforts. We mortal beings welcome their presence and marvel at their powers, whilst recognising our own inability to live and work in such a manner .

Their apparently limitless energy creates a ‘giant star’ effect that draws work and responsibility into their orbit. In this way nothing that goes on in the organisation goes ‘untouched’ by the leader. Of course, we are inspired by such people but their behaviour also serves to reinforce that leaders are not normal souls such as ourselves. And we quietly resolve never to aspire to leadership positions – which are so clearly beyond us .

As time progresses the presence of Duracell leader becomes critical to the well-being of the organisation.

Of course, the time comes when they depart, either to a new challenge, or simply because their own batteries, super-charged as they are, have eventually burnt out,

It is a sad sight indeed to see a place which has lost such a leader – and almost impossible to successfully replace. For people’s expectations are shaped by what they have known. They did not need to do that before, they did not need to think about that before, they did not need to take that responsibility before.

So before, you take on your next leadership role consider whether or not you need to fit your own Duracell batteries, or perhaps, instead, work out how each person can contribute their own energy in a manner which is sustainable beyond your presence.