When I was in my undergrad, I had the opportunity to do a Leadership Certificate. Although I was initially hesitant about taking something else on in an otherwise busy schedule, it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made. Not only did I gain practical experience in the field, but I also learned so much about leadership theory, starting from the (seemingly simple) question of what is leadership?
We hear the word so often that it’s become a buzzword. If you’ve ever looked for a job, you’ve undoubtedly seen it pop up in postings as a desired candidate attribute. In fact, it’s one of the most common things that employers look for regarding soft skills! K-12 schools are turning more attention to the foundation of leadership through including Social-Emotional Learning, or SEL, in their curriculum. Time and time again, whether it’s in a TED Talk or a history class, we see this topic arise.
So what is leadership?
Let’s start with a couple of definitions. First, we have the literal dictionary definition from Merriam Webster. According to them, leadership is:
The capacity to lead; the act or instance of leading.
–Merriam Webster
A bit basic, no? Leading, in case you were wondering, is defined as “providing direction or guidance.” That gets us a little closer to the general idea of leadership, but let’s look at what the Harvard Business Review has to say:
Leadership is the accomplishment of a goal through the direction of human assistants–a human and social achievement that stems from the leader’s understanding of his or her fellow workers and the relationship of their individual goals to the group’s aim.
–W.C.H Prentice, The Harvard Business Review
I like this answer to “what is leadership?” more. It covers a few important ideas: accomplishing a goal, being a social endeavor, understanding humanity, and contributing to a bigger picture. One of the most important aspects of this definition is the inclusion of fellow workers. A leader is part of an ecosystem, not separate from it.
Now let’s look at a third and final definition of leadership from McKinsey and Company, a global management-consulting firm:
Leadership is a set of mindsets and behaviors that aligns people in a collective direction, enables them to work together and accomplish shared goals, and helps them adjust to changing environments.
–McKinsey and Company
Once more, this provides a great insight to the what is leadership question, as it reviews some key points: facilitating groupwork, being adaptable, understanding human behavior, and reaching goals.
With that being said, what IS leadership?
I know. I’ve given you three definitions now, and no one, certain idea. And the fact of the matter is that a singular definition doesn’t exist! Leadership varies by situation, and one model is not applicable to every case. However, we can generally distill the idea of leadership into eight main points:
- Working toward a shared goal
- Collaborating with and guiding other people
- Being a student of human nature
- Compelling others to listen to you
- Listening to others
- Committing to the group
- Learning and adjusting constantly
- Understanding that the goal cannot be accomplished alone
As aforementioned, a goal is generally necessary to have leadership. With a goal, you have an objective and a direction. You have the end point–now you have to factor in the people.
If you’ve ever met a human–which you obviously have–you’ll know that they can be messy. The eight billion of us on this planet are all unique in some way, and that means that there will be disagreements. Personalities, values, ideas, habits, methods of communications, and conflict resolution styles will differ. It already sounds like a headache, right?
That’s where the philosophy aspect of leadership comes in. A good leader not only understands the basics of human psychology, but they are also able to listen to the group and adjust as they gain new information. They understand that they cannot accomplish the goal alone and that they must turn these powers of observation into powers of persuasion.
Leadership, then, takes the who and the what and adds a how and why.
We have the who (the group involved) and the what (the goal). Leadership aims to organize, inspire, and collaborate with the who to get to the what, thus creating a how. How will you achieve the goal and foster cooperation? How will you ensure that your team thrives?
By adding a why.
This, in my opinion, is the real, simple answer to what is leadership?. Leadership is taking all of the above elements and giving people a why. They might have a goal and a means, but they might not have a true motive. Leadership aims to create purpose in work–to inspire, fortify, and push forward. A manager or an average person can organize people to get to a goal. Only a leader can do so strongly, while creating a greater purpose.
What is leadership NOT?
Now that we have an idea of what leadership is, we can look at what it isn’t. When you think of a leader, some of the first examples might be presidents, prime ministers, CEOs, and influencers. These aren’t the only examples, however, and sometimes, they’re not even good examples of leadership! Just think of a supervisor, boss, or other authority figure that’s been in your life. Have they been true leaders according to the definitions above, or have they just been people in a position of power? There’s a difference!
We tend to think of leaders as members of the community with extraordinary skills. While it’s true that some people are more inclined to be leaders than others and that some have natural capabilities that make them more suited for certain roles, there are so many skills that we can all develop to enhance our leadership skills. The first step is to move away from preconceptions about leadership.
It’s not being the most charismatic people-person in the room or being great at getting attention. It’s not being popular, rich, famous, successful, powerful, or extraordinarily talented. Being the boss, refusing to change, and only listening to yourself also aren’t traits of a leader.
This means that there’s a lot of room for you to grow your leadership skills, even if you feel you’re just a “normal” person. You likely won’t realize the experiences and natural abilities that will help you in your leadership journey until you start!
A Final Word
Answering what is leadership? isn’t necessarily straightforward. There are many ideas, theories, and debates over the mere definition. However, the vast majority of them agree on a few things: it’s finding a way to help people work together toward a common goal, understanding human nature, being flexible, and creating meaning as a group. It’s not being born a certain way or having extraordinary capabilities. We are all able to develop these skills and improve in the area of leadership. What’s the first step you’ll take?
Image by Mango Matter from Pixabay
