Episode #0101 Best Definition of Leadership

In this blog, we are starting an ongoing discussion about leadership. First, we’ll talk about how fundamental leadership is in our lives. Then we’ll talk about definitions of leadership resulting in what I believe is the best definition of leadership. Finally, I am going to ask you to share your thoughts, experiences and questions about leadership. I want to hear what you think and why. This is a discussion, after all! Real talk about life.

You can find a podcast version of this blog article on our website or iTunes.

If you want to dive in to the issue of leadership, you can get my book, “On Leadership, What’s Broken in Our Society and How We Fix It” on Amazon.com.
Why Leadership is Important: Leadership and Life Are the Same
Leadership is very important for at least three reasons.

First, leadership is personal to all of us. You are a leader at work. You are a leader in your own family. And hopefully, you are leading your own life towards fulfillment and Happiness. If you are going to be successful in life, you must be a good leader in all these areas. Leadership isn’t something that someone else does. Leadership is something you do and experience every day.

Second, you are a citizen-leader. As Americans, we all have the responsibility for being leaders of our nation, states and local communities. Our Constitution begins with “We the people of the United States,” and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address noted that we have a “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” You are a citizen-leader with the responsibility to choose the day-to-day leaders in our government. To choose good leaders, you must understand leadership.

Finally, leadership is at the very core of our society. It permeates every aspect of our lives. Every day, depending on the situation, we constantly trust the leadership of others and others trust our leadership.

At work, we trust that senior leaders keep things headed in the right direction while we lead our people and teams in our projects.

In our families, parents lead kids through the first 20 years of their kids’ lives and then the kids often lead their parents through the last 10 years of their parents lives.

Church ministers lead us through spiritual and life challenges.

Doctors, attorneys and bankers lead us through our health, legal and financial issues.

Teachers lead our communities and children in education

General contractors lead us through home renovation

The employees at Trader Joe’s help us find new trending foods and the Geek Squad leads us through the installation of our home theater systems.

Youth athletic coaches lead our kids in the development of teamwork, leadership and character. Or at least we hope they do.

When you think about it, leadership goes on all around us all the time. It is the most basic of human relationships. Leadership has been around since the first time one human guided or taught another.

Leadership is pervasive to our human experience. It permeates every aspect of life. Our personal and professional lives are full of relationships where we trust the leadership of others and they trust our leadership.

Our society depends on billions of these leadership-trust relationships every day. Without them, our society would collapse quickly. Think about some of the areas where we take leadership for granted:

Law
Banking and Finance
Agriculture and Food
Construction and Engineering
Health care
Government
Military
Education
Logistics
Infrastructure (water, roads, electrical)
Computing Systems and Information Technology
Social and Cultural Affairs

In so many ways, leadership and life are the same thing.

Another way to consider the impact of leadership in our lives is when we encounter poor leadership. What happens and how do you feel when a mechanic or home contractor rips you off? You are supposed to be able to trust their leadership in auto repair or home renovation,