We have to manage our limited resources and our people effectively, and we have to lead. But part of leading in an organization with limited resources is doing the work that others are unable to do because of their limitations. I believe that everyone in an organzation has an obligation to lead. I find it particularly troubling when someone hired to be a leader shrinks from that responsibility. Eventually a monster is created.
Work piles up.
Our superiors become impatient at our inability to tackle certain challenges that they have given a high priority like the preparation of a policy manual or development of training. That monster comes to haunt us. There is a story about a man who dreamed he was being chased by a large, ugly and terrifying monster. Everywhere he ran, the monster would always be right behind him, making ghastly noises and breathing down his neck. In an attempt to get away, he ran into a canyon that proved to have no way out.