Defining leadership

 

Not all leaders are bosses, and not all bosses are leaders. Leadership is a skill, not a position.

Let that sink in for a minute.

If an alien landed on the planet and asked you to take him to your leader, who would you take him to? Would it be the President, the Governor, your boss, or perhaps your wife? Maybe you would be bold enough to say, “Here I am, how may I help you?”

This isn’t about little green men from Mars (and I’m using masculine references for simplicity’s sake), it’s about leadership. With the midterm elections coming up, the political squabbling is ramping up. We will have to wade through the mire of fearmongering and hate in order to determine who should be our next leaders.

The best elected officials are more than leaders, they are representatives. Their first responsibility is to represent the people who elected them. They represent our values and interests. They answer to their constituents, not the other way around. Unfortunately, we have too many politicians who have lost sight of that perspective.

What we need are people who are true servant leaders. We need politicians who will put people before party. I’m to the point where I care less about political affiliation and more about character and integrity. In order to determine which candidates are best fit to lead, it helps to understand what leadership is and is not.

After years of reading leadership experts and reflecting on my own experience I’ve come up with what I feel is a definition of leadership.

Leadership is the intentional process of influencing and serving people so they willingly work together to achieve a shared purpose and create positive change.

True leadership begins with character, not title or authority. The top character traits of a leader include integrity, humility, courage, compassion, and discipline. The purpose of a leader is to guide people toward a common or collaborative goal.

The best leaders create feelings of ownership in their followers so that people embrace the mission as if it were their own. Real leaders build others up, they don’t tear them down. They assume responsibility and rarely place blame.

What leadership is not is bossy, demanding, authoritarian, uncompromising, dishonest, self-serving, and inconsistent. Bad leaders lift themselves up by putting others down. They use people, power, and position to get what they want. That is the opposite of how most experts define leadership.

“You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want,” is one of Zig Ziglar’s most famous quotes. You will notice that it is outward thinking, placing the needs of others before yourself. Trust me, it sounds easy, but it is hard to do. Humans by nature are selfish beings. If you don’t believe me, try taking a toy away from a 2-year-old!

Overcoming our innate desire to put ourselves first is very difficult and requires discipline, focus, and constant practice. I fail at this every day, but I keep striving to achieve it.

Another thing I’ve learned about leadership over the years is that it is not a rank or position to aspire to but a skill you use to get where you want to be. It is collaborative and is at the heart of teamwork.

Many projects struggle or fail because there were too many bosses and not enough workers. Real leaders will roll up their sleeves and pitch in to help. They set an example. They put action over words. It’s one thing to tell someone what to do and quite another to show them how it’s done.

It’s also important to acknowledge that not everyone is a leader, but everyone should be able to recognize real leadership. That is important to know when we accept a new job, go into the voting booth, or when we’re approached by little green men from Mars.