What is Leadership?

Someone recently said to me, “it would be great to have a webinar on leadership. What is leadership, anyway?” Well, um, good question. We see the memes, the flippant quotes, and the myriad videos and books written about leadership. I wonder, though, is there something that could be considered a leadership landmark? Or perhaps several?

The Leadership Journey

A landmark is an identifiable object that serves to say “hey, we’re going in the right direction toward our goal.” When you drive home from the store, you know where to turn and where to pull in, not because of words but because of landmarks. You have learned them well enough to have them point you towards home. Remove a landmark and you might not make it.

Leadership is a journey, so it is important to have landmarks to guide us. These landmark qualities can be found in varying degrees in people. They are expressed in diverse ways. There are many opinions on this matter, and your perspective may be more valuable than the ones I mention. It is also important to note that leadership is not limited to those with managerial titles. Leaders can be found in all types of organizations and unexpected roles. Keep this in mind as you review the list of qualities below.

Qualities of Leadership

• A leader is someone who has empathy for all of his colleagues, regardless of their title or job function. Let’s face it, a leader is someone who can stop and listen with full attention, empathize, and be of service to the need. A leader who listens to your story and then tells you all about his most likely struggles with empathy. One who listens to your story, asks questions, asks what they can do to be of service is one who is a leader.
• Leaders have all kinds of communication styles. People who can converse with myriad job types and functions, as well as within different levels, is displaying excellent leadership. Why? Because they have taken the time to understand how the other person communicates and adapts. They adapt their style, words, and even inflection to convey messages that can be heard. This is not being spineless or disingenuous: it is respectful of the person you’re communicating with, and in the end furthers progress for both people.
• Accountability is a huge aspect of leadership that is often overlooked, but oh so painful if you run into leaders who are not accountable. Ownership and responsibility, integrity and accountability are hallmarks of those we respect, and to whom we want to support and trust. The person who is made of Teflon™️ or who refuses to acknowledge their status is not someone who remains in our minds as someone who is a leader.

Leadership, not Management

These are three landmarks, and I’m sure you have many more. The path of leadership is challenging, especially if you’re not seen as a leader in your company. Many people, especially project managers, customer success managers, program managers, and others, are often overlooked as leaders. However, the teams they work with highly value these three traits, just as individual contributors value them in their managers and directors.

Want to know more? I encourage you to attend my January free webinar, “What is Leadership?” We will be meeting on January 18th at 1:00 PM MT. You can find the information on LinkedIn, under my profile or the Managers2Leaders LinkedIn page. Click the links to find out more.

If you’d like to know more about me and Managers2Leaders leadership coaching programs, drop by my website, here.