Do You Identify as a Leader?

At what point in your leadership journey do you identify as a leader? Although that is the question I’m exploring in my graduate thesis this year, I am curious right now about the ways in which seasoned women leaders make that self-identification.

Last week I had the great good fortune to attend the Weatherhead Executive Breakfast Speakers Series, where Dr. Diana Bilmoria presented a panel of highly successful, seasoned leaders: Ramona Hood, CEO, Fedex Custom Critical; Dr. Vicenta “Bing” Gaspar-Yoo, President, Allegheny Valley Hospital; and Sherry Neubert, CIO, Goodyear. Each of them candidly answered my question in the Q&A portion of the program.

Their answers aligned completely. Although each leader shared with us her own unique journey to her current position, each one reflected that identifying herself as a leader had little to do with her title. Seeing herself as a leader was a reflection of seeing the successes of someone she had mentored and supported. It was seeing her impact that led each of them to their moment of recognition. As I listened, I realized that each of these inspirational leaders was describing themselves in terms I understand as “Transformational.”

That started me thinking: what if Transformational Leadership is such a natural part of the way that successful and empowering women leaders think and behave that it doesn’t even feel like “leadership” at all? What if we took another look at our descriptions of “leadership” so we could expand the definition beyond the narrow scope of “being in charge?” My sense is that this narrow bandwidth of leadership excludes the lived experiences of exceptional women leaders who—understandably—don’t want to be boxed in with some narrow range of being, one that merely ties them to their role/title/position.

It’s true that there are a range of definitions of leadership—not everyone agrees to one description that captures everything a leader does. Contingency-based leadership ascribes to the view that the current circumstances any leader faces will determine the actions required in that moment; this may come closest to describing the leadership practices that move organizations forward in these times of rampant change. Still, my sense is that it reflects the idea of “command and control,” which is the antithesis of how many women leaders—including our panelists—describe themselves.

Transformational Leadership, on the other hand, is more about being an influencer and a role model. People follow this leader because of their integrity and the way they model excellence, not because of their position. Transformational leaders inspire us to be more and achieve more; these leaders grow other leaders because, as they engage with us, they inspire us to tap into the leadership strengths we all possess.

James MacGregor Burns, Ph.D., who coined the term Transformational Leadership, and spent his professional life exploring leadership, aptly captures the spirit of Ms. Hood’s, Dr. Gaspar-Yoo’s and Ms. Neubert’s responses to my question in this quote from his Pulitzer-Prize-winning book, Leadership:

“Transformational Leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.”

What do you think?