What Is Leadership?

Welcome to Monday, friends.

I hope you’re enjoying and making the best out of it.

You’ve before you another week to put in the work to become a better version of yourself.

Last week, we started a fresh Monday series on leadership. Before this series, we discussed emotional intelligence. If you haven’t read it, start here. You’ll enjoy and learn a lot from that series.

This new series is about leadership and how we can become great leaders.

As I pointed out last week, many of us think we know about leadership. Our ignorance begins to catch up with us when we find ourselves in actual leadership positions, and we begin to exhibit a gross lack of deep understanding of leadership principles.

Today, we’ll look at the definition of leadership.

Hold it there!

Don’t assume you know until you have read this short article, which defines leadership from perspectives you may have never discovered yourself.

Leadership Does Not Come Naturally!

“Serving others does not come naturally.”

The human nature is naturally selfish.

We’re self-centred by default.

Take a look at children. They care only about themselves: my toys, my food, my stuff.

Who taught them how to care only about themselves?

Nobody.

It’s natural. Comes pre-installed in our biological software.

Self-centredness does not work in leadership. It’s the opposite: putting others first before us, which experts call servant leadership.

Great leadership is not about you or me but first about the people we lead.

Herein lies one of the biggest problems of leadership.

Most people who find themselves in leadership positions are there for themselves.

They care more about themselves—their bank accounts, careers, professions, and reputations. This is everywhere—in government, cooperative leadership, everywhere. If we have more leaders who are not selfish, the world will be a better place.

If politicians, businessmen, fathers, mothers, and professionals looked beyond themselves and focused on the people they lead, we would have a better and healthier society before us. Instead, we now have people who use leadership positions as opportunities to enrich themselves.

How Would You Define Leadership?

Leadership is a very complicated and complex topic that many do not really understand. What most people call leading, or leadership, is something else entirely that doesn’t even come close to the real thing.

What is leadership?

What comes to mind when the word leadership is mentioned?

Well, I won’t bore you with numerous definitions. Instead, I will draw your attention to the core element of leadership. All schools of thought, experts and leaders base their definition or description of leadership around this one element.

And what is it?

INFLUENCE!

Leadership is principally about influencing people to follow an idea, mission, goal or commitment.

Every time we influence someone or people to follow a goal, positive or negative, we’re simply leading them.

As a leader, you give people the inspiration, impetus and momentum they need to achieve goals. Sometimes, they may not be able to achieve goals on their own or with their own energy.

Leaders have the ability to push, steer, motivate and inspire people to take specific actions and steps and go a particular direction.

In the most rudiment forms of leadership, you are a leader if you can make people follow you towards a particular goal.

Leadership is what we do, not just what you are or a title. We are qualified leaders because of what we do, not a title. It’s our actions and our everyday work that inspire people behind and around us. Not mere titles.

To give it more flesh, let me share some of my favourite definitions of leadership with you.

“Leadership is a process of social influence which maximises the efforts of others toward the achievement of a greater good.” – Bradberry and Kruse.

Here is why I like this definition of leadership.

It puts the role of the follower into perspective.

It explicitly mentions that for effective leadership, the followers must also contribute their effort, energy, talent, and leadership skills to achieve a greater good. Well, sometimes it’s not always for the greater good.

Leadership is a social process that enables individuals to work together to achieve results that they could never achieve working alone. – Centre For Creative Leadership.

This is another elaborate definition of leadership. It views leadership from a “doing things together” perspective and emphasises the need to work together towards a common goal. In group leadership, the responsibility of leadership is not placed on one person; it’s a collective effort. Everyone in that team is mature enough to understand that they have to be fully involved in pushing the team towards its goals.

And the final definition:

Leadership is the accomplishment of a goal through the direction of human assistants. The man who successfully marshals his human collaborators to achieve particular ends is a leader. A great leader is one who can do so day after day and year after year in a wide variety of circumstances. – W.C.H. Prentice, Harvard Business Review.

If you look closely, you’ll observe that these three definitions place much emphasis on the roles of the followers. I strongly believe in group leadership where everyone is as motivated and inspired as the man or m en in front.

Now You Know A Bit About Leadership

And you understand that:

• Leadership doesn’t flow naturally. And if we try to lead naturally, we will make a lot of mistakes because we are naturally selfish, and true leadership is selfless.

• Leadership is INFLUENCE. All definitions of leadership converge at a confluence called influence.

• Leadership is a together business. It’s not the sole responsibility of just one person.

Finally…

Leadership is not commanding or management. It’s very different.

It’s deeper and more.

It’s a relationship between the leader, his people, and the vision that keeps growing stronger and deeper.

Next Monday, we’ll be exploring how we can lead ourselves first.

I genuinely believe that the first and most important steps in leadership involve looking inward.

We need to take the time to find inner balance and clarity before we guide others on their journey toward a shared purpose. By nurturing ourselves first, we can lead with greater empathy and understanding.

On Mondays, I write about leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship. My writing isn’t just for healthcare professionals; it benefits anyone who wants to broaden their horizons, become a great leader, and develop a deeper understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship.

If you want to stay in the know, join our community today so you don’t miss out!

Before leaving, I want to tell you about our upcoming “Maiden Healthcare Leadership And Innovation Webinar” on January 18th. It’s free, and we will be exploring the role of artificial intelligence in expanding access to quality, safe and affordable care in Africa. You don’t want to miss it for anything. If you’re a healthcare professional interested in artificial intelligence in healthcare, this is the right way and place to start. Happily, we’re focusing on AI in healthcare throughout January.

Register here and invite colleagues and friends.