Comprehending Leadership

Good leadership fails if it needs dominance

Lyric from the song ‘Cigar Talk’

By Vic Santoro

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Forbes magazine declared that the Leadership Development Industry constituted $560 billion worldwide in 2019. That’s a lot of dough.

What motivates us to spend so much money on it? What makes leadership so vital? What makes it so challenging?

No one ever gets leadership down. Because it is a dynamic process that involves imperfect people leading imperfect people within an infinite array of ever-changing conditions.?

Thus, leadership is continually a work in progress. Its components include the ever-changing leader and follower relationships and persistently shifting perspectives, circumstances, and environments.??

All my engagements involve helping grow leadership in some form or fashion. Some are done in very targeted ways, and others are integrated into more expansive initiatives. It is rare to meet a person or team that does not want to further their leadership. Consequently, I regularly engage in leadership conversations.

Leadership remains a hot topic. It is considered crucial if things are going well and the missing ingredient when they are not.?

Everyone agrees on what leadership is – don’t we? Or is it akin to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s assertion regarding pornography in 1964, that ‘I know it when I see it?’?

I suspect we do not always call it leadership when we experience it, read about it, or hear about it because it depends on how we define it.

What does leadership mean to you???

What attributes make a great leader? What features signify good leader-follower relationships?

Are leaders born? Or is leadership learned??

Must it correspond with authority? Does it require a title?

Is it tangible? Intangible. Both?

What validates leadership? Results? Anything else? What timeframe do you use to measure them??

Has a leader who succeeds in one arena and fails in another lost their capacity to lead? Or does it depend on the match between a leader, the situation, and the circumstance???

Who determines leadership, followers, or leaders??

Is command and control a form of leadership or management? What is the relationship between the two??

What is the one must-have of leadership? Who confers it? What establishes authentic leadership??

Please allow me to offer some conclusions to stimulate your own thoughts.

What is the Single Essential Leadership Component???

Leadership is about followership. If no one follows, there is no leader.?

Regardless of how innovative, smart, or dynamic a person is, they are not leaders without followers. They may be pioneers, yet still not leaders.?

Some disagree with this assertion because they believe it implies that the leader-follower relationship is fixed and moves in a single direction. Therefore, it represents a false dichotomy: one is either a leader or a follower.?

Their concerns are valid because leader-follower relationships are fluid.

Although people consider trust and integrity required leadership traits, this is not always the case.?

We witness others follow those they do not believe in or agree with because they see them as a viable means to an end. This necessitates calculated expectations, most evident in politics, celebrity, and extraordinary wealth. We may see this in ourselves, too.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, neither leaders nor leadership are necessarily virtuous.

In Whom Does the Power of Leadership Reside?

Because leadership is decided by whether people choose to follow a leader,?followers determine it.

Many factors affect these choices. The attempt to control others by exercising power and authority through carrots and sticks often induces people to go along with the person in the ‘leadership role.’?

These are forms of coercion and should not be confused with leadership. Yet they are ever-present.??

What are the Dynamics of Genuine Leadership?

Sincere leadership acknowledges that the power in a leader-follower relationship resides with the follower. The follower continually decides the degree to which they will follow a leader. The decision-making process is dynamic and ongoing and can be withdrawn at any time.

This leadership is commonly referred to as servant leadership.

What are the implications of recognizing this truth? How does it inform your leadership mindset?

The quickest way to create trusting relationships is to trust another first. Extending trust to others demonstrates vulnerability and signals care and respect.?

When others recognize your vulnerability and reciprocate by responding vulnerably, it initiates a virtuous cycle of increasing vulnerability. This interaction generates safety and deepens the trust required to collaborate and innovate, hallmarks of high-performing teams and organizations.

Counterintuitively, this frequently involves allowing others to take the lead when appropriate. Sometimes, being a strong leader means being a willing and attuned follower.?

Leadership is fundamentally about influencing others. A person may be innovative and have vision, insight, and impeccable character, but leadership evokes change in and from others.?

The best leaders expand and leverage the contributions of others, creating a multiplying effect. Followers choose to extend themselves and give their all in service to them and their cause.

Leaders achieve this by expecting the most from their associates while affirming and supporting them.

This leveraging result is what sets individuals, teams, and organizations that make skillful leadership so coveted. It differentiates individuals, teams, and organizations, setting them apart in noticeable ways.?

Are People Born Leaders, or Can Leadership Be Learned?

While leaders can demand that their associates treat them with respect through their authority, they cannot force another person to respect them. It is the leader's responsibility to continually earn others' followership. Put another way, leaders must constantly merit the permission to lead.

Therefore, leadership cannot be given to a person by someone in authority. Leadership can be taught, guided, and supported by others. Yet, ultimately, leaders must learn how to earn it themselves.?

For these reasons, all authentic leadership begins with self-leadership. Leadership is built from within, from the ground up.?

Unfortunately, much of your development will occur through trial and error. As Mark Twain famously quipped, ‘A (person) who picks up a cat by the tail learns a lesson they can learn no other way.’

Coaching and guidance encourage reflection that ensures that learning and growth occur and accelerate your leadership development process.

How you relate to and impact others and your environment through your interactions reflects the quality of your leadership. Doing so from a place of openness, integrity, and compassion is essential to living and leading with fewer regrets.

Worthy Inquiries:?

1.??? How do your beliefs about leadership affect how you lead? How do you define leadership? What do its crucial components consist of for you?

2.??? What is the quality of your leadership and the leadership of your team and company? What would improve it??

3.??? In whom do you believe the power in leader-follower relationships resides?With the leader or the follower? Do people willingly follow you?

4.??? Do you believe the world is divided into leaders and followers? Or is the relationship between the two more fluid? How do you earn others’ followership?

5.??? How do you develop your leadership skills? How do you grow leadership within your teams and organizations?

Please reach out to me to discuss your thoughts on leadership and to determine the impact its development can have on you, your team, or your organization. I welcome the conversation.

Robert Hackman, Principal of 4C Consulting—Courageously Curious Consulting and Coaching, helps people live and lead with fewer regrets. He grows and develops leaders through executive coaching, strategy consulting, facilitation, and training of individuals, teams, and organizations. He is committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He facilitates trusting environments that promote uncommonly candid conversations. Rob is also passionate about the power of Everyday Legacies and developing Legacy Mindsets. He has conducted over 50 Legacy interviews with people to date.?

A serious man with a dry sense of humor who loves absurdity. Rob can often be found hiking rocky elevations or making music playlists. His varied mixes, including Pandemic Playlists and Music About Men, can be found on Spotify.

Bravely bring your curiosity to a conversation with Rob, schedule via voice or text @ 484.800.2203 or [email protected] .

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