Leadership is simple.
They are the ones we call “leaders”. You have seen them, and may be one of them. They have the ability to motivate and get things done. People gladly follow them and share in the excitement of all that is being accomplished. We pay them a lot to do what they do.
But the truth is that it is not really hard to lead people. Think about it. Leadership happens all the time, everywhere. It happens in those moments when a group is wandering though the halls of a building together and seems lost. One person will say “lets go this way” and the rest follow. It happens in meetings where everyone is there except the “designated leader”. After a few moments, someone else will say, “let’s get started”, and it happens.
Leading people is about giving them the next step to take in a specific direction. It is really not very hard. It doesn’t take a “great” leader.
A “great leader” is someone with the ability to lead leaders. Any organization can get someone to lead followers. Leading leaders is a completely different matter.
Leading leaders is what matters if an organization is going to grow and be successful.How can you tell if you have the ability to lead leaders? The first indication is that you have other leaders around you, and you are not threatened by their abilities. The second is that they stay around you. When leaders leave, you don’t have what it takes.
