What Is Leadership?
There are few questions that
have had as many attempts at being answered as that of what is leadership? The
Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute offers the following:
“There are many
definitions of leadership. The Collins English dictionary defines leadership as
“the leader(s) of a party or group.” Yet true leadership is much more than
that. A leader can be the CEO of an organization, or a first year employee who
leads his or her team to success behind the scenes.”
For as long as I have been
interested in leadership, it has always seemed to me that much (the
overwhelming majority, no doubt) of the literature on leadership concentrates
on the exceptions (Shackleton, Churchill, Napoleon, choose whoever are your
favourites to expand the list). Just one example must suffice. A book by
John Adair entitled Inspiring Leadership
has the subtitle Learning from Great
Leaders. As the title and subtitle suggest, the book is a roll call of a
plethora of historic leadership figures.
I do not for a moment
suggest that this is wrong nor that we cannot learn from such leadership
studies. However, the leadership that happens day in day out in colleges,
schools, offices, factories and other organizations, at all levels, I should
suggest, is carried out by very ordinary people whose names will never enter
the history books. People who have not been born great; will never achieve
greatness, nor have it thrust upon them.
Leadership In The Real World
In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Malvolio reads out aloud a letter that had been written
with the design of tricking him into making a fool of himself with Olivia. If
the comedic effect of the letter is put to one side, as so often with
Shakespeare, the words offer an acute observation of human nature, albeit a
minute section of it. A few leaders are born great (perhaps, Winston Churchill,
William Gladstone), some are driven to achieve greatness (Napoleon Bonaparte,
perhaps) and others have it thrust upon them (Ernest Shackleton, for example).
No doubt the three categories overlap.
It is my contention that the
overwhelming majority of leaders do not fall into any of those three
categories. Some are born highly talented, some are driven to succeed and no
doubt some find themselves in the right place at the right time to achieve
something special. However, leadership, says Hasib Muhammad, is not reserved
for extraordinary people:
“Everyone, regardless of talent or
caliber, has leadership. Leadership is about leading yourself and others. In
today's society, those who lead others are celebrated because the results of
their choices are easily seen. What about the man who has worked long, silent
nights to provide for his family?”
I think the point made in the above
quotation is one that is well made. We are tempted always to equate leadership
with greatness. But why should that be. There will always be acts of great
leadership and there will always be great leaders who are defined by their
leadership. On the other hand, there will always be, there always has to be, a
whole army of very ordinary people who day in day out exercise leadership in a
way that is nothing more than competent.
Referring to these acts of leadership as
nothing more than competent is no insult. Indeed, it is quite the reverse.
Modern society could not function unless there are people who are prepared to
take on the tasks of real world leadership. They will never be honoured; they
will hardly be known outside of their communities; they will never be written
about. But without them, our lives would be far more burdensome.
In short, it is my
contention that day to day leadership is exercised not by people who fall into
one of Shakespeare’s elite triad but by people who are born competent, achieve
competence or have competence thrust upon them.
Garry Costain is
the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with
offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services
throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email
garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.
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