What is Leadership and How Do We Do It?

What Is Leadership? That simple question has challenged some of the best minds in the world. Prolific, world-class thinkers, speakers and authors have undertaken the task of attempting to define leadership. Each thinks he knows it when he sees it and each tries to describe this illusive idea. No doubt they do “know it when they see it,” but definitions are different from descriptions and leadership is no easy thing to define. Peter Drucker said “the only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.” Warren Bennis said “leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” John Maxwell said “leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.”

While I certainly agree that these men offer true and compelling elements of leadership, I think that they are only elements. You and I realize (if we are wise enough to step back and look well) that we only see a part of a whole. We describe what we see and do so well, but we only see so much. Each definition, or, rather, description, is correct but must include more than what is offered. Many bosses, supervisors, managers, commanders, C-level executives, politicians, etc. have “followers.” That does not make them leaders. I can write a book and “translate a vision into a reality,” but if no one reads it, am I leading? “No,” should be your response. And it would be a correct one (even if the book was good!) All I would have done is write a good book. Leadership requires the ability to influence others, and that definition is short and pithy and easy to convey, but it lacks depth. I could just as easily say manipulation is influence. Without something extra to qualify the statement “leadership is influence,” it hits the mark…then fizzles. Each definition must include the other and more.

Before I go further, let me say that I don’t presume to know more than these gentlemen and I certainly don’t mean to undermine their experiences. They saw leadership and described and explained what they saw. They see leadership and describe and explain what they see. I want to step back and look at more. I realize that if we focus in on one thing we do so to the detriment of other things as we attempt to put our finger on the pulse of this illusive idea. The closer we are to a thing the less we really see of it. It’s only when we step back that we can see more and more of the whole thing. Leadership is…  What do you see?

How Do We Lead? Answering this question is just as difficult, or more so, than answering the question of what leadership is. If we believe that a leader is someone who has followers, and we stop there, we will find ourselves failing in our ability to lead and to do it well. We will focus on the amount of people who read our blogs or retweet or like our posts or comment or read our books or attend our seminars or “follow” us. And I mean that both inclusive of the social media world and the rest of the world. We can use the social stratosphere as one example of people having hundreds or even thousands of “followers” but not fulfilling the role of a “leader.” Again, the focus is too narrow. The same goes for translating vision or influencing others. If we stop there, we miss so much.

I have not seen the whole of what leadership is and I don’t want to offer a simple or incomplete answer to either of these questions. (I know I would find myself in the same position everyone else finds themselves in when we try to define such a dynamic concept.) I do, however, want to offer a few observations on how effective leaders lead.

They Share Vision. Leaders have vision. Good or bad, effective or ineffective, one thing we can agree on is that leaders have vision. Good, effective, “follow-worthy” leaders share vision. They present their vision in such a way that the people around them are compelled by what they hear and see and are willing to commit themselves to the shared vision of the person they now view as a leader. Mutual ownership is a key to a shared vision.

They Share Responsibility. Effective leaders recognize the strengths in others and the weaknesses in themselves and are willing to share the responsibility of realizing the vision. They don’t simply delegate. They offer the people who follow them the opportunity to lead alongside them. Through shared responsibility, they maximize the efforts of those they lead.

They Understand Authority. (This is a hard one.) They understand that giving someone responsibility is only a first step. Effective leaders realize that if their influence or organization or cause will succeed and grow, both responsibility and authority must be conveyed. Responsibility without authority is handicapped. They know they can’t go it alone, so they confer authority to those who follow them so that their shared vision and mission can be brought into existence.

They Trust. Effective leaders trust the people they lead. They trust that the responsibility they share and the authority they convey won’t be abused or mishandled by the people they lead. They are willing to give without holding back because they are confident that the vision they cast was shared by the people who caught it. (And they are confident in the people who caught it.)

They Have Trust. Effective leaders not only trust those they lead, but they have the trust of those they lead. One of the most challenging tasks in the world it to attempt to lead people who don’t trust you. Trust is crucial. Les Csorba said “leadership is character in motion.” While I feel his definition should be grouped with the others to help add depth and breadth to theirs, I feel his touches something that many leadership definitions don’t touch. It puts morality into leadership. (Or, rather, puts morality back into leadership.) Somewhere along the way we lost this crucial element and we have stumbled like men walking in the dark ever since. Effective leaders have the trust of those they lead.

Charisma and drive and stature and skill and ability are good. But those qualities don’t make you a better leader. Those qualities make great followers more often that they make great leaders. Those qualities are important, sure, but those qualities are not everything. Leadership is not personality. Leadership is not what we can do. 

Leadership is…. What do you see?