What Leadership Isn’t

13 posted on October 13, 2009

POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Leadership

Many of us just got back from the Catalyst conference in Atlanta where we heard from some of the best and most experienced leaders. Sometimes though, it’s helpful to be reminded of some misconceptions about leaderships that often cloud our journey. In the vein of one of my most retweeted posts, let’s take a look at a few things leadership isn’t.

Leadership Isn’t A Title

So many people wait to leverage their leadership ability because they aren’t in a position of leadership. They think that once they attain that position, get the corner office with their name on the plaque on the desk, then people will begin to listen to them. Leadership in its most basic definition is the ability to influence others and convince them to follow you. Getting a new job title may force people to obey you but it doesn’t make you a leader.

“Most people who want to get ahead do it backward. They think, ‘I’ll get a bigger job, then I’ll learn how to be a leader.’ But showing leadership skill is how you get the bigger job in the first place. Leadership isn’t a position, it’s a process.” – John Maxwell

Regardless of who has the title or position, the leader is the one with the power to command people’s attention.

Leadership Isn’t About Being Liked

A leader recognizes that people are fickle. The same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” when Jesus came into town on Sunday called for him to be crucified later that week. We cannot base our leadership on how well liked we are because often times we have to take the unpopular route for the good of the people or organization we’re trying to lead. Leaders have to be willing to make the tough decisions.

It’s important to recognize the difference between being liked and being respected. Anyone with a pleasant personality can get people to like them. A leader is more concerned about earning their respect.

Leadership Isn’t Inherited

We need only look through story after story in the Bible to be reminded of this fact. The mantle of leadership doesn’t automatically pass from one leader to the next. Leadership cannot be claimed like luggage at the airport. We can inherit titles and positions or even whole organizations but we can’t be given the influence of leadership. Leadership is always earned.

Leadership Isn’t A Solo Act

Many people in positions of authority confuse leadership with dictatorship. They choose to ignore the advice of others or the concerns of the people they’re leading and go with their gut. A leader who does this may even make the right choice a handful of times but their stubbornness will eventually catch up to them.

“Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” – Proverbs 11:14

Leadership cannot survive in a vacuum. As leaders we must surround ourselves with people (both inside and outside of our organization) that can give us valuable perspective and wisdom. Remember, a leader doesn’t always have all the answers, but he/she knows where to go to find them.

Leadership Isn’t About Your Successes

We often judge great leaders and organizations by how successful they are. True leaders, however, are proven more by how they handle their failures than their successes. Leadership is scary business. Every decision a leader makes runs the risk of changing things for the worse. And yet a great leader makes the tough decisions and recognizes that failure is a far better teacher than success.

“We tend to live in an avoidance society, where failure is often overlooked or ignored and we only focus on successes. That’s a mistake. Leadership comes from learning lessons taught by failure. People rebound from failure because they choose to learn from their mistakes.” - Bill Hobbs

You can always tell the maturity of a leader by asking them what made them great. An aspiring leader may point to their successes to validate their leadership but a great leader will recount their failures as the defining moments that helped them grow.

These are just a few things that leadership isn’t. Do you agree or disagree? What would you add to the list?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 9:35 am and is filed under Blog Posts, Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 Comments

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October 13, 2009

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1 Steve Murphy said:

I might add that leadership isn’t about control. It’s more about supporting and growing those that you lead. Vision casting may come first but a close second has to be assisting those that you lead as they aim for the targets that you lay out for them. Some of my best leadership lessons have come from leaders who actively serve those whom they lead.
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October 13, 2009

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2 Nick said:

I agree.
I think it would fit into your category of Leadership not being a Solo act, but I would add that Leadership isn’t about one’s capacity to do everything. The leader is responsible for “enabling” and “equipping” others to live out and act out their gifts and talents, not for the leader to do everything on their own.
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October 13, 2009

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3 Faith Bogdan said:

Yessir, mighty good post! I’m fixin’ to git my own leadership badge soon (sniffs, places thumbs in suspenders) and need all the learnin’ I kin git on it.
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October 14, 2009

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4 Laurie Zieber said:

I also attended Catalyst and wrote about it on my site. Good post- as is the “What The Church Isn’t” post! So good, in fact, I think I will re-post on Facebook. Thanks!
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October 14, 2009

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5 Doug Less said:

Leadership is also not about trying to practice “CYA” (Covering Your [Expletive Removed]). The first thing a non-leader does is to look for ways to shift ownership and accountability – non-leader types want to make sure the “blame” never falls on them. Whereas the first thing a real leader does is start accepting responsibility for the vision and everything needed to make that vision a success. Ultimately, Leaders seek to own problems and issues and be accountable for them. Leaders know that they are responsible for all they do AND all they fail to do.
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October 15, 2009

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6 Bill Bliss said:

Brad, Great post on leadership! When Jesus was introducing the concept of servant leadership to His followers, He began by making the following observation in Matthew 20:25 “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must first become your servant…” So leadership is not about “lording” your position over the people under your authority – it is serving them in such a way as to provide for their needs so they can perform the work needed to accomplish the task at hand.
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October 15, 2009

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7 Roger said:

I’ve been in an education supervisory position for 26 years and P & W leader for 14. To me, LEADERSHIP is about relationship. If you have develop a relationship with who ever it is your “leading”, at work, in ministry, whatever, others will respect you and follow your lead if your you have taken the time to build a relationship with them. It worked for Jesus over and over again. He wants relationship: everything falls into place after that. If you have true relationship, there are things you will do or not do to maintain that relationship.
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October 19, 2009

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8 Champ said:

The real leader really is the greatest servant. Too many kids grew up being mean, pushy and arrogant without being disciplined because they had “leadership” qualities. They ended up in a leadership position where they were bossy, arrogant, know it all and etc. That has nothing to do with true leadership.
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December 30, 2010

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9 Per – Konflikthåndtering said:

True leadership is about finding each employees strong and not so strong sides, and encourage the employee to use what they have got. And obviously support them all the way.