Defining Leadership
Next year I will cross the 30-year mark of being a CEO, and over that time, I’ve tried to be a student of leadership. My favorite cases at Harvard Business School were the ones focused on the leaders themselves. I loved them all, especially when the case protagonist was present for class. Along the way, I was amazed by the number of differing perspectives around each scenario. It seemed there were as many answers to define leadership as there were people to tell you.
It’s a hotly debated subject with lots of questions:
If you’ve led anything for any amount of time, you’ve asked yourself these questions!
So What Is Leadership?
Some people think leadership is only influence — and I understand why people say that. When you lead people or projects, you are influencing all of it. But narrowing leadership to influence alone dumbs it down.
At dinner, I can influence you to have Coke instead of Pepsi. But both Coke and Pepsi are well known beverages around the world — there’s nothing new there. Influence is all about helping you choose one known thing over another known thing.
True leadership goes way beyond influence, because it always takes people… not to a known place… but to an unknown place — hopefully a better place, but never where you’ve been before. Because of that, leadership will always require one other ingredient beyond influence—courage! Courage is what energizes and transforms influence into leadership, moving people not only to a different place, but to a new place.
A Biblical Perspective
In the Scriptures, when Joshua was about to lead two million Israelites into the Promised Land, he is told six times by God and Moses to be strong and courageous. Why was he given so many reminders? Because going to the Promised Land was an unknown place to the Israelites. Moving 2 million people to an unknown place was going to be hard, challenging and require the best years of his life. That’s why Joshua was reminded six times to be courageous!
Great things can happen when leaders show up with both influence and courage. And while leadership isn’t more important than other gifts or parts of a team, it is the gift that will blaze that new trail that will take us from where we are today to where we want to be in an unknown future.
Blessings to you.
Senior Strategic Leader/ International Organisations Management
2 年Great piece Jimmy,very inspiring.Thanks for sharing your mind,thoughts and experiences ?? .
Builder in strategic governance
2 年Great piece! I love the revealed unknown superimposing over the known as catalyst for change.??
Economist | Trade Policy Specialist | International Trade Expert| Program Support Specialist Target Response| Child & Youth Advocate
2 年Very interesting topic... Thank you Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado ! I like the idea moving from known to unknown....!!
Senior Regional Director, Americas
2 年Good reminder Jimmy. I’m actually on my way to one of our countries in the region to have a difficult but necessary conversarion that will require courage. The post reminds me of a good book by Edwin Friedman called A Failure of Nerve. “The real problem of leadership is a failure of nerve. Leaders fail not because they lack information, skill, or technique, but because they lack the nerve and presence to stand firm in the midst of other people’s emotional anxiety and reactivity.”