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Transcript
Hey everyone, in this episode we’re going to talk about the definition of leadership.
And it’s important that we talk about that, first of all, because definitions are important. We act on things based on how we define them.
If you define your relationship with someone just based on how much TV you watch with them, then that’s going to affect a lot about your relationship, you’re probably not going to have very good or healthy relationship, if that’s your one criteria, if that’s how you define relationships.
Leadership today, there’s a lot of confusion about what leadership is. This person says this, this person says that. People get confused between managers and leaders and all this stuff. And so there’s all these definitions out there and all people saying this and this about leadership that messes people up.
And I think that’s one reason we’re struggling with leadership today is because people don’t understand what leadership is. And they define it in so many ways.
It’s also important to realize that it’s not based on what we want it to be. Leadership isn’t whatever we say it is. Leadership isn’t whatever we want it to be. Leadership is what it is.
We can define it however we want to. You can call leadership whatever you want to. You just won’t be a great leader. Sometimes people say, and I’ve heard people say, “To me leadership is…,” and they just fill in the blank.
To me leadership is… solving problems. To me, leadership is… making decisions. To me, leadership is… empowering your people. And those are all great and good things and things you should do as a leader, but those don’t define leadership.
It’s like me saying to me, carpentry is measuring wood. To me, carpentry is sanding a board. Those are things you do in carpentry. But those don’t define carpentry. Those are just things you do.
A lot of times people want to define leadership based on things they like about leadership or things they want to do or just functions of leadership. And not that those things are bad, they just aren’t what leadership is. It’s important we define it right.
So what is leadership? How do we define it?
Probably the best definition I’ve found, and I’m going to paraphrase it because he was kind of, the way he worded it was kind of wordy, and it’s by Peter Northouse in his book, Leadership.
Leadership is a process of guiding people through influence to the accomplishment of a goal. Pretty simple, that’s what it is. It’s the process of guiding people through influence to the accomplishment of a goal.
So let’s kind of dive into that definition a little bit.
First, it’s a process. It’s not, you know, just do one thing, and oh, you’re leading. Things change, situations change, and you adjust the things you do based on the situation. Depending on the help your team needs is the help you’ve given.
You don’t just say, “Well, this is just me as leader. That’s what I do.” No, you adjust. It’s a process. You change. And also Peter Northouse pointed out that with the process, you’re affected by your team and your team’s affected by you. It’s a process.
And then you guide people, and you are leading people, guiding people toward a goal. You’re guiding, you’re not forcing, you’re not coercion, you’re not pushing. It’s a willingness that they follow you.
Does that make sense? You’re guiding.
Second, you’re… people. If no one’s following you, then you’re not leading. You’re just taking a nice walk. You have to have people who are following you to be a leader.
Then there’s influence. It’s similar with the guiding. Without influence, you can’t lead. Because if you just use your position and authority to make people do something, then you’re pushing them to do something. You’re forcing, you’re coercing. You’re not leading them.
You have to build influence with people and have them where they want to follow you. A good definition of influence, I know we’re doing all these definitions.
Influence is the relationship and respect that you have with and from your team are others that causes him to want to work for you and with you.
So it’s relationship, it’s respect, it’s trust that people have in you that causes him to want to work with and for you.
It’s a choice. They choose. They want to follow you as you guide them. That is a good definition of leadership that you can use and follow. It’s the process of guiding people through influence to the accomplishment of a goal.
Definitions are important. So let’s make sure we define things well. I’ll see you next time.
