What is Leadership anyway?

Every day we hear the word leader being bandied about with no real thought as to the effective meaning of the word.  This causes me to think, what defines leadership? What does it do and how does it behave?  During my research for this post, I looked up some definitions of leadership, and although there were similar components to the definitions, they were very different. 

Merriam-Webster gives us a place to start:

1 : the office or position of a leader

2 : capacity to lead

That’s a pretty flat description.  Let’s see if there’s something a little more  3-dimensional that will help:

Here are just a few from Wikipedia:  Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. Definitions more inclusive of followers have also emerged. Alan Keith of Genentech states that, "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." According to Ken "SKC" Ogbonnia, "effective leadership is the ability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organizational or societal goals."

The Business Dictionary defines leadership this way: “In its essence, leadership in an organizational role involves (1) establishing a clear vision, (2) sharing (communicating) that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, (3) providing the information, knowledge, and methods to realize that vision, and (4) coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members or stakeholders.”

So, do any of these definitions answer our questions about what true leadership is?

In the aftermath of the Tucson shootings, President Obama gave a speech about civility in public discourse.  After this speech, his approval numbers improved by 3-4 points.  Commentators attributed the increase to his speech’s leadership tone and Obama acting presidential.  However, subsequent to his speech, the rhetoric and caustic speech continues.  Does the fact that some of his constituents are not listening mean he is not a leader?  Absolutely not!  He remains the “leader of the free world.”

In sports the player with the best skills and the highest contract is often deemed to be a leader.  In politics a leader is one who won the election.  In business we associate leadership with the person who has the title.  You don’t have to look far to find examples of people with leadership roles and titles who are ill-suited to the work of leadership.

Leadership is not only about having a vision for the future and meeting goals, it is fundamentally about a deep set of beliefs that allows the leader to inspire and motivate individuals to achieve their greatest potential.  Does that deep set of beliefs matter?  Or is it all just a matter of having a platform to lead from and employing a certain skillset that is effective in getting people to follow?

Leadership is a complicated concept that is hard to define.  There seem to be a lot of moving parts to leadership.  Maybe this is why there are so many books, tapes, seminars and workshops on the subject.  We are all still trying to figure it out.

As I contemplate the word leadership and its effect on society, it stimulates me to ask you the following questions:

• Are we evaluating leaders by the right criteria?
• Are effective leaders always good leaders?
• Do people always follow good leaders?