3 Reasons Why the High Ground Is Leader Territory

Great leadership only happens when the big picture is clearly understood and that requires an elevated view.

Somewhere you have heard or seen the use of the phrase, head for the high ground. It certainly has been used lots of times in war movies or in the western shoot ‘em up movies of yesteryear.

I bet you can set the scene in your mind’s eye…

The good guys are surrounded by the bad guys. It looks like there is no way out of the situation. Then, the leader sees it!

If they could stay close to the cover of the underbrush, they could make the top of the hill over there. Once having gotten to that high ground they could better establish perspective and a strong defensive position.

Well, what does that little mental picture have to do with the real world?

My answer to that IS EVERYTHING when it comes to leading anything or anybody effectively.

All leaders are challenged in similar ways. Those challenges threaten the effectiveness of the leader.

A leader who can establish him/herself on the high ground has the greatest chance to succeed in his/her leadership role. 

There are 3 reasons why that is the case.

First, 

and absolutely foremost, effective leadership is born of total and accurate perspective. The many and varied challenges of leading anything can’t be overcome, if they are not clearly understood.

Solutions to challenges always come from understanding.

When it comes to building a clear and effective perspective, a leader needs a “bird’s eye view” of the situation. 

S/he needs to see all sides of the situation and that kind of vision isn’t going to happen while fighting for survival in the trenches.

They must find the high ground where the air is clear, and the view is long. Some characteristics of high ground in this instance could be:

Elevated vantage point

Wide field of view

Clarity of surroundings

Provide early warning

Position of superiority over competition

Ethically superior position

Taking advantage of all those characteristics of high ground allows the leader total perspective of the situation.

The second 

reason the concept of high ground is so important to effective leadership directly relates to the last characteristic noted above.

A leader who is not in an ethically superior position always will ultimately fail.

Don’t believe it? 

Just look at history. I don’t even need to name names. In a heartbeat you can recall historical leaders who may have started out highly ethical. However, over time they lost perspective; became drunk with power; or overloaded with ego and fell from power because they fell from being ethically superior.

The third 

reason high ground is leader territory is because the leader must be deserving of high trust.

Those being led always want to enjoy looking up to a leader they absolutely trust. They will place such a leader on a pedestal, AKA, high ground.

Think about it…people do not follow leaders they do not trust—PERIOD! On the other hand, when a leader has earned the trust of his/her people, those same people can be trusted to do what it takes to help the leader succeed.

So, if we were to wrap all of this into a nice, neat bow, high ground always has to be a leader’s territory .

The leader reaches that high ground by having a clear vision people can understand and follow—being ethically superior—and being trustworthy.



What are you going to do to make sure you are a leader who is always on the high ground?

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