5 Non-Traditional Definitions of Leadership
Do you think about leadership? Chances are that you do, even if you think that you don’t. Here’s a quick test to see if you think about leadership.
Do you strive to become a better teammate?
Are you interested in bringing out the best in people?
Do you seek out and act on feedback?
Do you seek help when you need it?
Do you listen to understand?
Can you work on something with others and not worry about getting the credit?
Are you curious about your work and your teammates?
If you answered “Yes” to one or more of those questions, then you think about leadership. Or at least you think about qualities of leadership. You may even be a leader, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not. Leadership isn’t about role or title. It’s about a set of behaviors and attitudes that can, and should, be developed no matter where you are in your organization.
Did you notice that none of the questions dealt with being or becoming the boss? That’s because leadership isn’t about being in charge. Titles may come with rank and authority, but they too often come without leadership qualities or the knowledge of what good leadership looks like. Simply being in charge is assumed to be enough.
That assumption, however, is incorrect. There are two reasons for this:
Coercion is not leadership
If you can't get things done in your organization without the authority of your position in the hierarchy, then you aren’t a leader. If that’s fine with you, then you probably shouldn’t read any furtherLeadership must occur at all levels of an organization
There are more competitors, business risks, and change factors today than ever before. To be able to respond effectively, organizations can’t rely only on those in their management structure. That reliance is too slow and not agile enough. Instead, they must create a culture of leadership beyond the hierarchy that is heedless of title, tenure, or pay scale, where shorter feedback loops are created and decision-making is decentralized
Breaking from Tradition
Now that we’ve taken a look at what leadership isn’t, let’s take a look at what it actually is. These definitions of leadership may not show up in traditional organizations or traditional business educations, but more and more success depends upon breaking away from “the way we’ve always done it.”
Here are five non-traditional definitions of leadership:
Leadership is a privilege, not a right
Understanding this definition isn’t just about humility. It’s about the fundamental understanding that people will only follow when they find something or someone worth following.
It’s a privilege when people raise their hands to be a part of your ideas and vision, and it must be respected and nurtured. Just because you are followed today doesn’t mean that you’ll be followed tomorrow, even if you continue to gain more positional authority. Direct reports aren’t followers, their subordinates.
A leader’s primary job is modeling
The best way to become someone worth following is to be a model for the behavior that you wish to emphasize and promote.
Do you want teams that are excellent learners? Model excellent listening skills. Show how you seek out and respond to feedback. Be vulnerable enough to say, “I don’t know,” and work collaboratively to find the answer.
Do you want teams of capable, independent thinkers? Delegate. Relieve yourself of some authority by giving it to them. Create the necessary conditions for self-organization and self-management that will unlock their decision making ability.
Do you want teams that care for each other and are willing to go the extra mile when necessary? Be curious about who they are and what they think. Show your own caring by never being too busy, even if you are. Ignore the Golden Rule of “Do unto others how you would have them do unto you” and live by the Platinum Rule of “Treat others how they would like to be treated.”
Leaders know the difference between intent and impact
Effective communication is a must-have skill for leadership. A key element of effective communication is understanding the difference between intent and impact.
Intent is what we mean to do. It’s the purpose and motivation behind what we say and do.
Impact is how those words and actions are perceived by others.
They aren’t always one-to-one, which means that what we meant to do or say can be different than what actually happens. When this happens, someone may unintentionally be made to feel angry, sad, incapable, insulted, or any other number of negatively charged emotions.
In those cases, good leaders attempt to bridge the gap between intent and impact by
Attempting to understand a different perception
Acknowledging that the result of their action didn’t match the intent
Taking responsibility for unintended consequence of their actions
And, yes, even offering a sincere apology
When leaders attempt to understand another’s perception before they act, then intent and impact can be more closely aligned.
Leaders encourage
Leadership means to encourage people to not only live up to expectations, but to go beyond them--not by working nights and weekends or taking on someone else’s work, but by taking risks. Personal and organizational growth doesn’t occur when we stay within our comfort zones. Leaders engage and encourage others to step out of comfort into the unknown.
This can be done through words, but it’s better to be shown through actions and attitudes. Encourage experimentation by enabling and allowing failure. Create a culture where failure isn’t a dirty word, and small, safe to fail experiments are the norm instead of big, all or nothing projects.
Encouragement, of course, should also come in the form of praise. When someone does something exceptional, let them know. Let everyone know.
Leadership is change management
While executive leaders are required to create strategies, craft visions, and effectively communicate them, leaders at all levels are in the business of change management. Meaning, whether it’s a change in org structure, a market disruption, a promotion, a team member leaving, or the roll out of a new policy, your organization’s secondary business--after your products and services--is change management.
Change isn’t a series of one-offs that require temporary or ad hoc responses, rather change is an operational reality and should be planned as such. That doesn’t mean that your change management process should be a monolithic, one-size-fits-all solution. It needs to strike a balance between enough thoroughness to cover major contingencies and enough flexibility to have agile processes that can respond to unexpected edge cases.
All of these definitions require investment in employee development and a commitment to a new culture of learning, openness, and collaboration. They also require leaders to invest in themselves and lead themselves before leading others.
Your leadership journey may have just begun or you may be a grizzled veteran. Either way, these non-traditional definitions of leadership will create more flexibility and responsiveness to your leadership.
