Leadership is a means of personal expression. Leaders find ways to express who they are, what they believe, which inspires them take action towards their vision. Leadership is personal expression, in that their vision causes them to strive to bring about something that hasn’t existed before. In this sense leadership is an art. One definition states that art is a “skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation” and bringing into existence something new is a process of practice and observation. Warren Bennis understood leadership as self expression and in his book On Becoming a Leader he makes the following observation…
“No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders. So the point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself, to use yourself completely – all your skills, gifts and energies – in order to make your vision manifest. You must withhold nothing. You, must, in sum, become the person you started out to be, and to enjoy the process of becoming.” – Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader
To be a credible and authentic leader, you must learn to express yourself in your own unique way. This means you cannot lead by copying others. You cannot lead by copying the actions, beliefs, values and vision of others. You can only lead from your own vision, your own values, your own beliefs and from your own actions. People will not follow effective leadership techniques, tools, tricks and tactics. People follow leaders who expresses themselves authentically, people follow leaders who know who they are, people follow leaders who know what they stand for, an leaders follow leaders who walk their own path.
Consider this, the majority of those we would classify as great leaders, never set out to become great leaders…
“If you study the people who participate in dynamic leadership relationships, you will find that the majority of them never set out to be great leaders. Rather, they set out to pursue a purpose, a cause, or a calling that was worthy of giving it everything they had – in some cases, even their lives! Their power is the power of purpose. Whether it’s chasing an exciting new opportunity or fighting and injustice, their belief in the cause gives them the strength to persevere when they come up against seemingly insurmountable odds. In their efforts to build relationships and rally people around the cause, they are engaging in the act of leadership.” – Kevin Freibergand and Jackie Freiberg, Nuts!
Leadership is not something that you can learn by reading books and article on leadership. Leadership is a personal expression that comes about when you passionately pursue your vision and purpose, when you fight for a cause and when you pursue a calling.
- Have you clearly articulated your vision and purpose?
- What is the cause that demands your best?
- Is the cause something that is worth giving your life for?
- Is the cause big enough, that it demands great leadership from you?
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Vision, Purpose, Meaning, Art, Artist, Book, Passion, Cause
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Thanks George. This reminds me of a quote
“People don’t care what you know until they know you care”
Great post, George. I love Warren Bennis and his work, but I have to take issue with his statement that “No one sets out to be a leader.” People do it all the time.
Great post George! Leadership is more inside for me. It is an understanding of our within. I say this because leadership involves a lot of emotional and spiritual investment. And these things are what we will find if we will look through our inner selves.
True, people do set out with the intent of becoming leaders, but I would argue the best leaders are those who don’t have their eye on the prize but are merely passionate about improving an organization. Then, their passion, dedication, innovation – and ideally their teamwork, hard work, respect, and optimism – yields the byproduct of their being thrust into a leadership position. It becomes obvious over time that they need to be in that position, and somewhere along the line, they probably started believing that themselves. But probably not from the outset.
Good thoughts. It reminds me of the quote by Anthony Jay “The only real training for leadership is leadership.” I knew a lot more about leadership when I was reading books and in charge of no one but nit picking my leaders because they weren’t leading well. As I have grown in leadership responsibility I realized that to truly grow as a leader you must lead and not simply read. On the other hand a leader should be a reader.
Good post. I do have a question, however. If “leadership is not something that can be learned by reading books and articles on leadership,” then why does this post exist? This blog? Other blogs like it? Just a thought.
Hi Aleksandar, A great point. Paradoxically, this is why this blog exists… as “It’s only in the practice of leadership that we influence our world…” Too much talk, discussion and analysis… not enough practice!