Here are some of the answers they gave me:
-Leadership is a person who is well liked in a position of power.
-It's someone who is admired.
-Someone who has respect and influence with people.
-A person who has authority in a company.
These are all great descriptions of a leader but, it took them almost 20 minutes or more to come up with these ideas. See, most people have a vague idea what a leader is and what leadership does but few think about it enough to truly describe it's full potential.
Even though, they come in contact with leadership on a daily basis, and it's effects can last months, years, and even centuries, people just don't put a whole lot of stock into this area of life. And there are a multitude of reasons why this has happened... Maybe some have become complacent, self-centered, or even power hungry... Either way, sometimes people just need a little reminder of some of the important things in life.
Now, lets think about the word "leadership"...
The word "leadership" is used to describe certain actions, positions, and attitudes of individuals, groups, and those with an influencial role within society.
Leadership implies a lot of power and popularity. When we think of a leader or someone in a leadership position we think of the President, Congressmen, CEO's, Entrepreneurs, Mom's and Dad's. These are all positions (not actual people) in our society we associate freedom, influence, and power whether, it's political, business, or simply household power. We all regard the people holding these positions in high esteem and think they have it made... (Or at the very least, we think they're doing something right.) We put them on a pedestal and think, "Man what I wouldn't give to be the _____________ (insert position here)."
Though these positions in and of themselves have little in common with one another (since some are political, business, and/or household), there is definately a single common factor in all of those positions listed above... It's relationships. Relationships with people determine the success or failure in every aspect of our lives. Let's face it, without people... What's the point?
Now, that might seem a little bit extreme and you might even be saying, "I didn't need any help when I replaced the door knob in my house last week." On the surface you're right, but you still needed people to manufacture, ship, and sell the door knob to you. And if anyone of those relationships failed you wouldn't have been able to fix the door when you did.
So, whenever I see a leader, I always look at the relationships he or she has with the people around them. How they treat their team is essentially their public portfolio of success. Watch some of the leaders around you, evaluate their relationships, and determine for yourself the effectiveness of their leadership. Remember, this is about observation and learning, not gossip. If their relationships aren't strong, then you may see their effectiveness as a leader compromised. But if their relationships are strong, they'll have a greater influence.
Leadership is a BIG topic. There are so many different styles, mentalities, and roles that ecompass everything about leadership. So, I'll cut this short and give you my definition of leadership:
Leadership - the Art of expanding social influence to accomplish a certain goal.
One day, everyone will be called on to lead... Will you Rise to the occassion?
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