What It Is AND What It’s Not…

If we’re going to have a real shot at debunking any of the common leadership myths, it’s critical that we develop a firm understanding for what it is AND what it’s not! And far too often, failing to have that clear understanding feeds those myths…

I’m sure you’ve experienced this just as much as I have, watching someone move into a position where they’re calling the shots and immediately beginning to throw around any weight they believe automatically accompanies the title. Unless they’ve at least started earning the influence I referenced before, barking orders that are solely backed by a shiny new title isn’t likely to get the greatest results over the long haul. While that approach may result in an initial uptick in activity - at least while that individual is looming over any of the unfortunate folks they see as their minions - it’s far less likely to yield the same performance once carried the whip to another area and it certainly doesn’t create a strong desire for anyone to stick around any longer than they absolutely have to!

I have no doubt that if you and I were to have a conversation over a cup of coffee, we could commiserate over the crazy examples we’ve seen far longer than the coffee would stay warm - even if it were in one of those mugs where it still burns you hours later! Recognizing what leadership is not is the easy part; it’s more certainly not a position, a title, or some random thing that’s dropped on any of us out of nowhere… Understanding what it is can be a bit more difficult though!

Let’s consider that statement I shared before from John Maxwell, “Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less.” While that sounds simple enough, I still believe it requires us to understand how that influence is earned. The more I’ve studied leadership, and specifically the best (and worst) leaders I’ve had the opportunity to be around, the more convinced I’ve become that authentic influence is only developed through our consistent behavior - specifically, our actions to serve others. Based on that, I’ll stress once more that I’ve seen tons of great people lead (read: positively influence) the people they interact with on a daily basis with no positional authority whatsoever!

As I often share from all the years I worked in behavior-based safety, the best part about focusing on behaviors is that they’re something we can see. And when it comes to leadership, those behaviors are often something we can even feel! When we’re able to reduce - or even eliminate - some of the most common misconceptions about leadership in the workplace, we can begin building a foundation that produces results that are rarely achieved any other way - within our organization as well as for the clients and  communities we serve so we’ll pick up next time with why this matters…