Leadership Defined
As the country reopens for business. let's focus on leadership—a topic near and dear to my heart. As a matter of fact, I’m part way through writing a book on the subject, so you’re getting a sneak peek at some of my thoughts! Here’s the thing: We live in a bereft age where rock stars, entertainers and sport celebrities pose as icons. I, for one, fail to be impressed by celebrity status and prefer to look at quality over dollars in the bank or mansions or movie credits as criteria for leadership. It wasn’t always like this.
When the founding fathers met in Philadelphia more than 200years ago to write the Constitution, America had a population of only 3million, yet six world-class leaders were among the authors of this historicdocument. Today there are over 240 million Americans, but where are ourleaders? Their audacity and wisdom culminated in a great struggle, birthing theUnited States of America. How is it that today we hear a cacophony of debatebut little true leadership?
The dearth we are experiencing need not be the final chapterin our story, however. We just need to get on the same page as to whatleadership is and how it is manifested. We need to document the steps thatculminate in success. We need to remove the roadblocks and instill thetemplates that reflect a hallmark program. We need to unify behind trueleadership and expose the fraudulent. Those are our May topics, so we’re allstarting off with the game plan before us.
Let’s begin by understanding leadership is not a noun.Sure, there are positions of authority, but those people may be notleading at all. No, my friends, leadership is a verb. It’s like using a catalyst, an agent that causes a chemical reaction whenmixed with another compound. Nothing happens until the catalyst is introducedinto the mix. It isn’t a trait born inside of you, but rather, putting intopractice a matrix of learned behaviors you can choose to implement.
Leadership is a verb, action in motion. It involvesdriving toward a goal, an end visualized, by one who sees where we need to goand how to get us there. A leader is a visionary who energizes others. Leadersare future-oriented. Like small creeks flowing into mighty rivers, the dreamsof leaders change the course of history…for a nation, for friends, families andorganizations.
Let me be clear: Leadership isn’t an action youdemonstrate every hour of every day or in every situation. You may be a leaderfor an activity, for a club, for a group and never be a leader outside of thatsituation. That’s where most people get confused and feel inadequate. They lookat huge areas of their lives where they exercise no impact, and assume, “Well,I’m not a leader.” Nonsense! No one leads in every aspect of life. I like thisdefinition by Investopedia because the focus is on performance, not position.
George Washington is everywhere we turn, but he's looking a little worse for wear. Our world is crying out for leadership and you may be one who needs to don that mantel and make a difference. Find your sphere of influence and change your own corner of the world. It doesn’t matter if your voice leads five or five hundred—what matters is your willingness to lead.
