There is no shortage of books, articles, and research papers on the concept of leadership. It is a massive area of study for academics and practitioners alike. Despite the size of the field, there is no common definition for leadership. Consider a few that I have collected, some of which are quite terrible. I will let you be the judge.
Leadership is the ability to inspire a team to achieve a certain goal.
Leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organization
Leadership is the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive
Leadership is the ability to impress the will of the leader on those led and to induce obedience, respect, loyalty, and cooperation
Leadership is the reciprocal process of mobilizing by persons with certain motives and values, various economic, political, and other resources, in a context of competition and conflict, in order to realize goals independently or mutually held by both leaders and followers.
I have come to my own conclusion that a shared definition of leadership is not as important as I once thought. While having a shared definition of leadership would create a significant amount of clarity around the topic of leadership, it is not a place I want to spend my energy and contribute my life’s work.
What is important though, is to know what definition is being used when you are learning something about leadership. You can arrive at wildly different interpretations and outcomes based on the definition you choose.
The definition I choose to use for leadership is:
Leadership is the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive
Let me share with you why I have chosen this as my definition for leadership.
First, leadership is a practice, it is something you do and not a title you are given. A CEO of a Fortune 500 company and a child can both practice leadership. To me, leadership as a practice is empowering and means it is attainable by anyone.
Next, leadership involves other people. Mobilizing others to tackle tough challenges is how leadership we typically frame examples of leadership. Try to produce an example where you have witnessed or read about an act of leadership that did not involve mobilizing others to tackle a tough challenge. To date, I have not been able to find an example that works.
Finally, the most important part of the definition is at the end, to thrive. We all know there are “leaders” who mobilize others to tackle tough challenges but do it in a way that is destructive. In my view, this is not leadership. This type of act is typically leveraging an authority position to force others to accomplish a task and has no care for the individual. Leadership does not require authority and does require care for the individual. Leadership practices mobilize people to tackle touch challenges and thrive while doing it. It is not always pleasant for the follower, but true leadership always leads to thriving, to growth, to greater capacity, and elevated performance.
When you think about leadership, I invite you to borrow the definition I use for leadership. If you choose another definition, write it down and please communicate it with others so they can find a way to fit it into their mental map.
