Leader - The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country.
Leadership - The action of leading a group of people or an organization.
The definitions above are taken from the Oxford English Dictionary. They seem so simple right? The leader is the person in charge and the leadership is the action a leader does. But is it that simple?
In our day and age, I feel that the words leadership and leader have been elevated to the same status as the knights were in the Middle Ages. Mostly because we mystified the CEO's of big organizations and portray them as the "big shots" of our era. Which in a way is true. But, because of this, everybody dreams that they can be the next Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg or Bezos.
But what being a leader does really mean? They way Oxford Dictionary defines it's too crude for me. It doesn't really picks the essence of a leader and the leadership ability. Because yes, I do believe leadership is an ability, a skill that you can learn. I don't believe in this so called "born leaders", because I believe every skill in this world can be taught and learned. Depending on the will of everyone. Of course, there is the natural talent, but hard work and discipline can always beat talent.
A leader is indeed a person that leads a group of people. But, it doesn't mean that a leader is the person in charge. It's the formal and informal leader, as management books tell us in a very plastic way. Formal leaders are usually named, either placed there someone or elected. It depends a lot of the type of the organization. But for me, formal leaders are not that important. What I want to talk about in this post, is the informal leader. The ones that aren't named. The ones that move "in the dark". The ones that nobody sees them, but everybody looks up to them. I believe these ones are the true leaders.
In my humble opinion, a true leader is someone who doesn't really care about the title, about the alpha position or about his status. A true leader is someone who can move the peoples' hearts and push them forward. I often see people calling themselves leaders, but what they really care about it's the power position. That sweet, sweet comfy chair of power where they can look down upon the rest. Where they can look down upon the plebs.
In the animal kingdom, the leaders of a pack, group, herd, fight hard for that position. The position of leader is one with many benefits, but at the same time the leader has the responsibility to protect the group. We humans fight for the position, caring more for the benefits, than responsibilities of the job.
This is why I say that the informal leaders are the true leaders. Informal leaders have no real power of decision. But because they have won the hearts of the people, they can move the group to better places. Think of all thought leaders, in all the ages till now. They didn't had any power. They weren't kings, they weren't lords. They didn't own cities, but they moved the hearts of the people. And they moved the humanity to better places.
As I was saying, I believe this ability can be trained. How? By stepping up. By taking responsibilities. But engaging people and feel them. By getting involved in the community. You can't be a leader just by saying you're one. You become become one in the middle of your peers.
So, instead of saying that you're a leader, try to lead instead. Step up. Action speaks louder than words. Always.
Thank you for reading. If you liked the post, give it an upvote. Leave me a comment with your thoughts on the matter and don't forget to subscribe.
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yo opino que el liderazgo se obtiene cuando en tu entorno de trabajo eres capaz de mantener la amistad y lider es esa persona que nunca decae ante la adversidad, me gusto mucho tu post felicidades y exitos.
I think that the leadership is obtained when in your work environment you are able to maintain friendship and the leader is that person who never decays in the face of adversity, I really liked your post congratulations and success.
Leader should be honest , because action is louder than word's
amazing post..thanks for sharing...keep it up
I agree with everything you said!