What is leadership? Why is Leadership Important?
Until recently, I thought leadership was being in charge.
I was wrong.
John C. Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership pointed this out to me. As John correctly points out leadership is influence.
Have you ever been in a situation where one person was in charge but had to capitulate to another? Or where two people occupy the same authority but one always seems to get their way over the other? That was the second law of leadership in action: influence.
Being the person accountable for things or having a title does not make you the leader. Leadership comes from your ability to inspire trust in other people. If people trust you, they will follow. If they can’t trust you eventually things will fall apart.
If you are a business owner the role of leadership should be pretty obvious - your employees count on you to lead them to build a better business so the stock holders are happy, the vendors are paid and the employees themselves are taken care of.
Even if you aren’t a business owner leadership can be critical to getting things done at work. The workplace is a team environment and most managers are not leaders - they are just the suits in charge. That opens a lot of opportunity for someone that wants to lead.
Another place leadership is needed is in the home. If you and your spouse both fail to lead you will have problems. And if both of you are trying to lead all the time you will also have problems. Understanding leadership will help you both work better together and provide a better environment for your children (who you lead by example).
Leadership applies to other areas of your daily life as well. Consider the bank teller that gives you a hard time or the repair man that has been out for the third time this month. Your ability to lead people you aren’t in charge of will make you more successful.
February 24th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
very very helpful for a essay im writing!! thanks so much!!
March 8th, 2009 at 6:00 am
oh my gosh you helped me so much with an essay, too! i hope you don’t mind me using some of your ideas….? thank you thank you!
September 10th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
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September 28th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
cool helped me in making a project.
December 11th, 2009 at 5:38 am
it helped me alot with my essay for jrotc
December 17th, 2009 at 7:19 am
BAD, TERRIBLE, BAD. joking its terrible. JEW!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Hello! Great article! Thank you! One comment, and I hope you read this as helpful, is a grammar note. When you refer to people, you should say “who” and not “that”. “That” is for things. So, “Consider the bank teller who gives you a hard time…” Not only is it grammatically correct, but it implies more respect for the human being to whom you are referring. Thanks again for the information! Very interesting blog!
March 10th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Helped me with my assignment too. The brief and succinct definition of leadership was just what i was looking for.
April 10th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
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May 10th, 2011 at 6:40 am
boring but helpful kinda. HARRY POTTER NERD!!!!!!!!!!!!!/ /
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September 14th, 2011 at 10:31 am
I really enjoyed reading your entry, it really helped me conjure up my college admission essay for FSU! I referred back to your paper often when I was writing, I hope you didn’t mind me using some of your ideas? :)
Thank you again!
February 10th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Boring………………