02 May 2013

Thoughts on Leadership


Leadership is one of the most searched terms in Google.  Countless books have been written on the subject. 

This is about what leadership means to me.

When I look back on my life to find the first acknowledgment of leadership, outside of my parents or family, the school playground comes to mind.  Recess.

Remember the kid that got a game of dodge ball together?  Or the one that started ‘red rover, red rover’?  That’s leadership in its most basic form, someone following another’s lead.

In my opinion, leadership is a personal acknowledgment that being of service to others is a greater purpose than serving yourself.  Leadership is a desire to see someone else accomplish a thing that they didn’t think they could accomplish.

Leadership is part art and part science.  Leadership lives in the gray matter, it doesn’t know boundaries.  Leadership is not about knowing the answers but about asking the right questions, in the right way.

Leadership is helping another person, team, department or group find the answers, solutions, products, process, etc that exists within themselves.
 
Leadership is being comfortable in the silence, thereby allowing space and room for others to grow. 

The likelihood of me looking back on this 20 years from now and laughing hysterically is about 99.9%.  Leadership evolves.

My 6-word memoir about leadership:  helps others lead a better life

My favorite video about leadership is by Derek Sivers TED2010.  Enjoy.