In Search of a Leader

There are probably as many ideas about leadership as there are followers.  The one that sums it up best for me is from Alan Keith (CEO of a biotech company) who said, "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." 

I like that definition very much, but I wonder how often you have experienced that – in a team, in an organisation, or indeed in a country?  If you attended one of those breakthrough type programs from a bygone era, then you likely have first hand experience that it is actually possible.  But where is your sense of that today?

When was the last time you felt you were contributing to making something extraordinary happen?  Last week I wrote about creating practical magic.  By the above definition good leadership, it seems, demands that kind of skill as well as the pre-requisite technical and relationship expertise.

Considering the parlous state of leadership in the world today I wonder what we as individuals can do?  Of course we have our vote every so often – but will someone with practical leadership magic please stand up?

James Kouzes and Barry Posner, in their nearly 30 years of investigations, involving over 15,000 managers and leaders, found that followers expected leaders to have four primary characteristics:

• ·         Honesty
• ·         Forward-Looking
• ·         Competent
• ·         Inspiring

That’s a pretty good filter to apply to anyone in a leadership role, and particularly challenging if you apply it to your political choices, but I believe this captures much more than just a few follower whims.  It’s more like a distilled ‘Wisdom of Crowds’.

This four item combination is a measure of personal development, a test of self-mastery and most significantly, an indication of one’s level of awareness.  I won’t expand on each item here other than to say that the second item implies mastery of conceptual skills; the third implies mastery of action skills; the fourth implies mastery of relationship skills; and the first implies more than truthfulness – it implies personal integrity and authenticity – the key indicators of trans-egoic awareness.

Imagine a leader who exudes those four qualities.  Would that not spark your desire to contribute to making something extraordinary happen?  That’s leadership magic!

Now let’s bring it closer to home.  Try those four characteristics as a self-test, but not from your own subjective view.  How would your friends, your family or your followers rate you on each point?

If you rate well on all four then please stand up – your company and your country need you now!

Your own VitallyMe report will highlight for you, many more than the 4 qualities cited above.  It will identify your strengths as well as your challenges in Relationships, Actions and Thinking.  And it will help you discover how to develop the leader in you.  Click here for more...