“These days, no one wants to become a team leader.”
This is the reality.
What lies behind this sentiment?
Why are people rejecting the path of leadership?
1. From Authority to Servant
In the past, a leader was an authority figure.
When someone gained authority, others followed. Even if it was unjust, people complied out of a sense of obligation. Within the context of Korea, personal errands were not really “personal.” It wasn’t uncommon to see an employee carrying a boss’s luggage or serving food at their family funerals. This is not the distant past; many still remember these dynamics.
During a time when livelihood depended on caution, challenging authority was a dangerous act that could lead to being fired. Authority worked well then. Once in power, leaders could do their jobs without much detailed training. That brought them joy. Sure, the salary increased, but the real pleasure came from power itself.
Today’s leader is a servant.
If a dog keeps biting its tail, its tail will eventually fall off. You can’t maintain power without treating those under you well. When problems arise, team members and leaders need to help each other. Leaders are now expected to support their members’ goals. They must receive input from members and deliver solutions, in effect, providing a service. Leaders must be servants before they even get the chance to gain power.
Moreover, each member has different expectations and needs, often conflicting ones. Navigating this requires advanced skills. The power is gone, but the responsibilities remain. So now, being a leader isn’t necessarily a joyful experience.
2. From Expert to Facilitator
In the past, leaders were experts.
They built their authority by accumulating experience in a specific field. Over time, that accumulated experience developed into a level of expertise that was difficult for others to match, like a seasoned farmer who knows the land through years of cultivation. Experience granted them the authority of knowledge.
Because of this, many junior employees in the past wanted to learn directly from their leaders’ accumulated expertise. It was considered an efficient way to learn. But now, when yesterday’s expertise no longer applies to today’s reality, a leader’s guidance can easily be dismissed as nagging or out-of-touch boomer talk. Some even believe, “What I know is more relevant than what the leader knows.”
Today’s leader must be a facilitator.
Past experience is no longer reliably useful. The environment is changing so quickly that knowledge and skills from even yesterday may no longer fit today’s context. The authority once granted by accumulated experience is fading. It now feels awkward for doctors to become hospital directors or for teachers to become principals — the progression from expert to leader no longer feels natural.
Leadership today can’t rely on expertise alone. What’s urgently needed is the ability to facilitate – to coordinate different opinions and adapt to constant change. In the past, how to wield power could easily be learned from senior leaders. But how to facilitate well? That’s hard to find within organizations, and even when modeled, it’s difficult to emulate. Leaders also rarely have access to formal training in facilitation.
3. From Stakeholder to Third-Party
In the past, a leader was a stakeholder.
They were directly responsible for the tasks assigned to them, relying on their own expertise and sense of duty. Because they were directly involved, they needed to assert their opinions strongly and persuade their team members effectively. When persuasion fell short, they would resort to using their authority to give orders and enforce compliance.
Today’s leader must act as a third-party.
While not a complete outsider, today’s leader must know how to operate from a third-party perspective.
In a workplace full of political, economic, technological, and cultural risks, leaders must be able to step back and make decisions independently, instead of recklessly delegating everything or becoming overly involved in each issue.
However, even team members themselves struggle to define their roles and boundaries. Today’s work environments are so complex and interconnected that it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where problems are coming from, which in turn increases frustration and uncertainty for everyone.
To navigate this, the leader must take on the role of a facilitator-like third party, asking thoughtful questions and helping both members and collaborators reach shared understanding and outcomes. Instead of focusing on their own opinions, leaders must work to draw out the knowledge and insights of others, fostering motivation and alignment.
The Modern Leader
Today’s leader must be a servant, an advocate, and a third-party facilitator — and to do this well, they must be equipped with four key competencies.
1. Leadership Willpower
The servant path is hard. Power is sweet, and serving is often bitter. Leaders must be willing to endure it – to persist even when service feels beneath you. What gives willingness is a sense of purpose.
When someone climbs Everest, it’s not because they enjoy the pain of the journey. It’s the clarity of purpose that makes hardship bearable and achievement thrilling. The same applies to leadership.
2. Leadership Knowledge
Just as a mountaineer must study the mountain, a leader must study how to serve. They need to know how to draw out team members’ knowledge, how to navigate conflicts, and how characteristics like envy, motivation, identity, pride, happiness, and engagement work.
You can’t just ask people to be self-motivated and expect it to happen. Leaders must understand when and how motivation arises and how to create the right conditions. Intellectual understanding alone isn’t enough, but without it, efforts can become inefficient or even harmful.
3. Epoche (Suspension of Judgment)
The greatest enemy of modern leaders is snap judgment. In a rapidly changing world, relying on past experience is dangerous. But the traditional image of a decisive leader still lingers.
Quick decisions may be necessary, but prejudice and rashness often lead to poor outcomes. Leaders must humbly recognize their biases, look again, reflect, and consult others before deciding. This is called epoche — the suspension of judgment. It doesn’t mean being indecisive, but briefly delaying instinctive judgment to make wiser choices.
4. Leadership Skills
To serve, mediate, and take the third-party role, leaders need specific skills: how to ask the right questions, listen actively, take notes, and develop ideas. They should also foster open dialogue that reveals deeper meaning.
Leaders must practice intentional silence, resisting the urge to speak first, allowing new perspectives to surface. And when one-on-one, they must converse, not lecture. This, too, is part of becoming a third-party leader.
