This is something that really bugs me and it has to come out.

Chances are, that when you are reading this, I am preaching to the wrong target audience as you are all with me, but I am (and here I get to use my favourite English word of all times) flabberghasted (!), annoyed, outraged and simply furious at how people can have leadership titles on their business cards, but not have one iota of courage in them to make decisions (good or bad) drive issues forward (rightly or wrongly) in order to move the business, a project, people ahead?

How can some people be perfectly content to be employed to lead people and projects and repeatedly, for weeks, sit in meetings, typing into their laptops or crossing their arms, which end with “ah well, we’ll talk about this again sometime” with no sense of urgency, time passing and no urge to take things into their own hands?

Is it not frustrating to never see any results and accomplishments?

No, quite the opposite! When spoken to directly, how can they not sink into a deep puddle of shame when hearing themselves say things like “Well, I only set the framework. The content, processes and decisions as to how to move forward are not my responsibility”. What? Well, whose are they then? Sorry, I don’t understand.

I am fully aware and not born yesterday: business decisions depend on more factors than one pushy person who sometimes rushes ahead of herself. I might polarise, but at least my team and I try to make things happen.

Of course, I am attackable and I believe non-deciders are delighted to point out shortcomings : I do not always remember to fill in request or report forms, I sometimes need to take detours and revise my plans or accept we need to do things differently, but how can a person be content to just write reports and pass on information, never leaving any marks on anything he or she does, shape how an organisation works, create products, decide or suggest how you deal with the money you have available.

A really good friend of mine calls people who escape her memory “beige”.

I wish I could ignore the colour (is it one?) beige, it is bland, neither here nor there, with no edge against the chili red spice you place in front of it, it blends into the background but – and this is important: you need to remind yourself lest you forget: it keeps looming there, even if you ignore it.

I like people in all real colours: warm, edgy, hot, soothingly cool, dark as the night – so I think I will need to take that beige canvas and paint it over this weekend with lots of sunny yellow.

Rant over.