Leader discusses strategy with team
If you look up “leadership” in the dictionary, you’ll see references to “leader” and “to lead,” but no real description of the idea itself. The lack of a definition is odd, considering that Warren Bennis, in his book “Leaders,” published in 1997, claimed that there are over 850 definitions of the term floating around. That’s a lot to wrap your head around, even if you’re already in a leadership position.
Leadership, it seems, is difficult to define in one way. I’ve noticed it’s contextual. Leadership calls for different practices and different qualities in specific situations. And that leads to the wide variety of terminology used to portray leadership as a concept.
It would be difficult to pick just a few specific definitions from the herd. But it’s not that hard to notice some common themes. As you strive to lead your team, here are five definitions of leadership you should know and why they are important.
Contents
1. Leadership is service
From Mahatma Gandhi to Martin Luther King, Jr., we recognize servant leaders when we see them. I would like others to argue that good leaders are servants to their values, beliefs and stakeholders, including those they lead.
Leadership should be selfless, encourage broad-based input, welcome diverse viewpoints, and develop grassroots leaders. That is because leadership is not and should be a role that is only fulfilled by a few. A great company creates a culture where everyone can lead some projects in some way and with certain talents and skills.
In today’s workplace, you have to leave autocratic leadership in the rearview mirror. Employees don’t trust it, don’t respect it and certainly don’t respond well to something so dictatorial. Instead, try to provide the resources your team needs and remove the obstacles in their path. Serve your team well, and they will serve the company in the same way.
2. Leadership is compassion
Perhaps for most of economic history, “compassion” was way down the list of corporate leadership traits—if it was on the list at all. Fortunately, that has started to change in recent decades. And once companies found themselves at the crossroads of a global pandemic, social unrest, political divisions and economic uncertainty, authoritarian leadership styles became even less tenable. In the new environment, leaders without compassion for their employees were doomed to failure.
Compassionate leadership forges strong connections, builds trust and generates a strong sense of loyalty in employees. That’s because you reach out to those you lead, make sure they’re okay, and help them when they’re not. I’ve found that this kind of leadership, whether leading or being led, is the calm in the storm.
Of course, compassion cannot be the complete definition in itself. You need to know how to use it to motivate people to overcome their fears and distractions to deliver their best performance. Still, it is a necessary tool in today’s leadership box.
3. Leadership is visionary
Management and leadership are not the same. Leaders don’t have to be managers and managers don’t necessarily make good leaders. Administrators execute. Leaders are visionary, which means leadership is.
If you look up “visionary” in the dictionary, you’ll find words like “imagination,” “foresightedness,” and “wisdom.” Great leaders should have them all and more. Visionary leadership needs to inspire the kind of hope that removes the obstacles that employees can’t see past, so they too can see where they can go.
If you just tackle one task after another every day, you’ll just make it. I know sometimes it seems like that’s all you have time for. But remember, your role is to look beyond where you are now, envision where your team could go, and help those you lead see that too.
4. Leadership is fearless
Real leadership is not for the faint hearted. Great leaders must be fearless and willing to take the risks necessary to achieve innovation. All of that requires a knack for pushing boundaries along the way.
Don’t make the mistake of confusing courage with complete confidence. Being fearless requires acceptance of the possibility of failure. By definition, you don’t know the outcome here. You are simply willing to take a chance on achieving a better one by checking your comfort zone at the door.
If you don’t push yourself to the limit, you can’t expect those you lead to do the same. Show them that imperfection, ingenuity, and innovation in the pursuit of excellence are perfectly acceptable behaviors. The results can be astonishing.
5. Leadership is curious
Know that you like know-it-alls, especially someone in a leadership role. By nature, these people close themselves off from infinite possibilities and the promise of discovering new things. On the other hand, great leadership is full of curiosity.
Some of the characteristics of curiosity in leadership are asking questions, changing your mind after gathering information, and being open to receiving that new information. Curious leaders are never really done, because they put everything they learn back into a project, a goal and a vision, leading to change for the better.
How do you know if you are a curious leader? If you ask employees questions more often than you tell them what to do, you are probably one. Try to be more curious and less comfortable and see what’s going on around you.
Define yourself
Instead of reading hundreds of definitions of leadership, look at the traits that most often define great leaders. Internalize what they mean and then strive to define your leadership in your own terms.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.