This post is going to be a short post, one where I simply share with you my definition of a leader. After over a decade learning, hands on and from others, and studying about leadership, I came to the conclusion in my book than leadership is not about skills or attributes, rather it is about three core areas:
- Adaptability
- Right behaviours
- Experience
With that, I will share with you my definition of a leader:
A leader is one who leverages their influence by utilising their experience to adapt and exhibit the right behaviours in any situation to create a positive outcome for all.
I want to emphasise the end of the above statement – “Create a positive outcome for all”. A challenge to this may be that it is impossible to create a positive outcome for all because there will always be a person or group that is not happy. I understand that, but what is important here is to stress that, the aim of a leader should be to try and create that positive outcome for all, not to use their power for personal gain or leverage their influence to intentionally harm specific groups.
This is an extreme example, but take for example Adolf Hitler. Many historians will explain that he was a great leader. In some respects yes, but for those he viewed as his own people. His vision was to leverage his influence to create more power for himself to the detriment of other specific groups. That should not be the goal of a great leader because as history shows, that behaviour only creates environments of pain and suffering.
If you find yourself struggling to come to terms with understanding that, then you may need to take some time to re-evaluate your values in life and determine what is really important in this world.
Thank you for reading, JT
