A Useful Definition of Leadership
A good definition for Leadership that helps me and could help you too!
When looking up the definition of Leadership you will first find some pretty soft and circular statements: “Leadership is the action of leading a group.” Some include the verb command. If you search around a bit you will find much better information but I think that it’s fair to state that the general unconsidered idea of leadership is that it’s a single person telling some group of people what to do. Practically, I believe most organisations walk in to a paradoxical position. You can get to a leadership position by being a leader. But you need to be in a leadership position to have the power to be a leader. This all stems from a poor fundamental view of leadership. How can we all think of leadership in a simple and more useful way?
I don’t profess to be any great leader but as I gain more experience, knowledge and responsibilities it is an area I need to consciously engage with more. I strongly believe that all skills — hard and soft — can be developed. No one is a born leader. Different abilities do perhaps come more natural to some but all skills can be considered, broken down and worked on. We can all improve in which ever areas we choose to.
What is Leadership?
Leadership is any action that encourages positive behaviour in others in the service of a shared goal.
Thinking of leadership like this reframes the domain in an accessible way.
With a definition like this you can start to become more of a leader today.
