What's Your Definition of Leadership?

On some level we all strive to be better leaders. Whether we are informal leaders in our workplaces, families, churches, or social organizations or formal leaders with recognized authority, we desire to become better at working with others. Unfortunately, leadership is one of the most difficult human interactions to improve upon because few of us take the time to really understand what we are trying to achieve.

 There are thousands of books on leadership and nearly as many people who present on the subject to groups large and small. Many of us think that if we read a book, watch a MasterClass or listen to the speaker we will discover that elusive nugget of information that will make us the next great leader. While those books and speakers are important to our development, we must stay true to ourselves and recognize that leadership is as unique to us as our fingerprints. We cannot simply copy someone’s leadership style and expect to achieve their level of success

So, if my approach to leadership is unique to me, how do I know where to focus my efforts? And, how do I measure success? A number of years ago I developed my personal definition of leadership. It is important to note that besides being unique to me, the definition is dynamic, not static and it has evolved over the years. I view leadership as, “The art of developing relationships with others to influence them to achieve a common goal.” 

As we deconstruct my definition, we can start with the word “art”. I wish that leadership were a science that had a specific formula that we could follow so that we could all be successful. The reality is that there is no magic formula. And, while reading books and listening to speakers is a great way to improve your success as a leader, it is important to apply things that work for you so that you remain true to yourself instead of simply trying to copy someone else. By the way, if you find the magic formula please let me know so that we can sell it to the highest bidder and split the millions!! 

The next critical part of my definition is “developing relationships with others”. I believe that developing relationships is the most important job of every leader. You can only influence others if they trust you and you can only gain their trust if you have developed a solid relationship. Developing a relationship can involve lots of different approaches so it is important that you find something that works for you. For me that relationship includes learning about the whole person. I want to know what they want from their career and I want to get to know their family. I must create a safe environment for all those who I am trying to lead. I focus on the concept of Servant Leadership to develop the best relationship possible with each team member. 

I am working so hard to develop those relationships so that I can influence my team to achieve a “common goal”. That means that I am responsible for leading the effort to develop a clear vision for the team with specific milestones and measures of success. Sometimes those goals require changes in the organization and some of those changes may impact team members on a personal level. Change is difficult at best so I need the trust established in the development of the relationships to help the team move to achieving the vision. 

My definition gives me a clear picture of how I need to show up every day. I need to consistently do everything I can every day to engender the trust of my team. I need to constantly survey the business landscape and determine the most appropriate vision and goals for my team. Using my definition, I can come home from work each day and evaluate my efforts for the day and think about how to improve for tomorrow. 

Without my definition, I can work hard but never really accomplish anything. So, what’s your definition of leadership?