Leadership Is About Influence

"Leadership is influence" John Maxwell

During a recent talk I gave I asked the attendees how many of them thought they were a leader.  Only a few raised their hands.  I shared with them that I believed that all of them were leaders.  The question was what kind of leader were they?

Leadership is not just about leading people to accomplish a specific business result or leading a sports team.  It’s about influence.  If you have an influence on someone’s thinking or the decisions they make, you are a leader.  That means if you have children, belong to a club, church, neighborhood group, you are most likely influencing others.

The influence you have over others should not be taken lightly. How you communicate with others who look up to you can be the difference between succeeding and failing.  I believe there are so many leaders who are not aware of the impact their leadership has on others.

As a parent what kind of leadership are you displaying to your family?  How do you communicate with your spouse?  Are you short?  Dismissive? If you have children, you are modeling a behavior that can have a lasting effect on their lives.  Young men that see verbal and emotional abuse from father to mother can take that as the proper way to communicate with their future wife.  Young girls can take away the thought that it is normal for a man to abuse them emotionally or physically.  Conversely, are you loving to your wife or husband?  Are you respectful?

Leadership is not just about the behaviors you project at work, but in every area of your life.  How do you lead in your community and what do your friends say about you?  Authentic leadership then is representative of who you are in every aspect of your life.