What is Leadership?

Google lists a seemingly endless number of overlapping qualities and skills to define leadership: a willingness to listen, perseverance, honesty, selflessness, decisiveness, trust, etc. Many, if not all, of these qualities and skills may also pertain to management. 

Leadership and management are often confused. A person might be able to manage an organization without being a good leader. In some organizations, the manager is not a leader. Even when a manager has leadership responsibilities, a closer inspection usually reveals that there is another informal leader who inspires the team to do their best.

The ability to inspire is an essential attribute of good leaders. Even if a leader has all the skills and qualities listed in a Google search, without the ability to inspire people to do their best, that leader will ultimately fail. 

I would love to hear about the great leaders you have experienced and the qualities you most admired in them. I also encourage you to look inward and see if you might be one of those informal leaders who help inspire the people you work with regardless of your job title. 

Share your leadership stories