Why This Is Important
What is leadership really about? What makes a good leader? Those are really important questions to answer well. How you answer those questions will massively determine what kind of leader you think you need to be, and how you lead.
It doesn't matter whether you're a mother, father, brother, sister, teacher, politician, millionaire, sports star or if you simply see yourself as someone who is going about your day in your own way, minding your own business.
We ALL have people who follow and look to us for guidance in some way, whether they say it out aloud or not. Anyone who has a follower of some sort, is a “leader”.
It's for that reason that we must fully understand what makes a good leader.
What Is Leadership About?
Many people would agree that in this day and age, “true and good leaders” are rare and hard to come by. Great leadership, whether of organizations, countries, or whatever other establishments, is so hard to establish or implement. Part of the reason for that is because, different people answer the question, “what is leadership?” differently. Think about it. Some people even get “leadership” mixed up with “dictatorship”!
Of course you could learn more about leadership from various seminars and programs but, I believe most of them miss the real truth about what makes a good leader.
When you think of the word “leadership”, what images come up in your mind? A political leader pursuing a great cause? An explorer charting a new course through unexplored territory? A CEO of a company developing and implementing strategies to dominate the market?
What Makes A Good Leader?
One key defining characteristic of what makes a good leader is, people must want to follow the leader. Leaders must also be highly accountable.
Unfortunately, many so called “leaders” nowadays falsely believe that just because they hold a position of leadership, people have to follow them. These kinds of “disillusioned leaders” are the ones that will use all sorts of methods to exert their will upon people.
Here are a few perspectives on leadership and leaders:
“Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.”
“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
“Leaders help themselves and others do the right thing.”
“Leaders set the direction, inspire and build something new.”
“Leaders find a way and never give up because they realize people are depending on them.”
A New Perspective On What Is Leadership
Would you be willing to embrace the notion that a leader is like a “Hero” in more ways than one?
Heroes have always been in positions of leadership. Heroes don't just lead people, but are rare individuals who do the impossible and take actions others are not willing to take. In doing so, they gain the respect, admiration and follow-ship of people.
The video below brings clarity to the definition of a hero. It also reveals an interesting perspective on what makes a good leader, which hopefully, you'll be inspired by. Watch the video and then share your “takeaways” in the comments below.