There has been a great deal of public debate about leadership, given what is occurring in this country. The launch of this blog about leadership took place in October 2019. At that time, I intended to offer my thoughts about the topic and evaluate this critical skill. Like many activities in our lives today, “A Different Take on Leadership” needs a restart. Republishing this entry, which defines leadership, is an appropriate place for a reboot. 

Last month, I set the stage by discussing the difficulty in defining leadership. Explaining leadership in terms that are understandable, measurable, and sustainable is a challenge. There are so many characteristics that come to mind when effectively leading an organization. Each time I read a definition; one or two of my essential elements are missing. I decided to take a different approach. First, determine what are the critical components of leadership and form a definition from those elements. Here are the five essential components of leadership.  

The first is people. Any definition of leadership must start here. People are the stakeholders connected to your business, the primary of which are employees. A leader cannot achieve success by themselves. Leadership is the ability to put together a team of people who understand and accept their role in the organization. It is getting diverse people with different interests and motivations to work together. It involves developing strong relationships with people. To do that requires strong interpersonal and communication skills. 

Successful leaders get things done. They get results. A measure of one’s effectiveness as a leader in accomplishing the mission and goals of the organization. Goals can take many forms; meeting a profit number, successfully implementing a program, constructing a facility “on time and under budget’, meeting performance standards, or undertaking a change management strategy. Just as athletic coaches are judged on wins, leaders should be judged on meeting defined objectives. In the end, real leaders move the organization forward.  

Closely aligned with attaining goals is doing the right thing. History is replete with individuals who were successful in accomplishing goals that did not move the organization forward. Doing the right thing is not easy. It can require bold initiatives or mean significant organizational change. And the right thing is always morally and ethically grounded.    

Great organizations perform on a consistent basis. Consistency is the one characteristic that differentiates good teams from the great ones. Success cannot be a one-time proposition. Great leaders can drive the organization to perform and improve continuously. No matter what circumstance or environment, great leaders can consistently accomplish their goals. 

Limiting casualties or harm to the organization is the final element. I am sure you have seen a situation where the task is complete but results in long-term damage to the organization. This often case is called “winning the battle but losing the war.” If the body is weaker because of your leadership, then you have failed. Successful leaders consider the long-term impact on the team. For example, if the result of a course of action is a demoralized or fractious workforce, you may be better off choosing another strategy.

Putting these five elements – people, accomplishment, doing right things, consistency and limiting casualties – together in a sentence results in the following;  

Leadership is the ability to get people to accomplish the right things consistently with few to no casualties.  

Do you value the contributions of your team or stakeholders? Do you model the behavior you want to be exhibited? Is there a clear vision for the organization? Can you deliver on the organization’s mission and goals? Is your team strong enough to take on the next big challenge? Are your actions ethically and morally grounded? Will the organization be better off because of your leadership? Think through these elements as you evaluate your leadership style. 

Future editions of this blog will discuss the various components of this definition.   

That is my take on leadership.   

Leadership is a complex and often misunderstood concept. Many definitions and theories have been presented on the topic.    We are quick to credit an outcome as an example of excellent leadership.  Think of how often we hear that someone demonstrates good leadership qualities.  And we debate the subject endlessly.    Much of the confusion and differing opinions comes from the lack of consensus about how to measure leadership.  We have differing views about the traits that make up a successful leader.   Given all the research and practical examination that has been done on this topic, why is a functional definition of leadership challenging to determine?  At the heart of my confusion is how quickly the title of a leader is given to practically everyone.   My difficulty is finding a good standard to judge an example of good leadership that everyone in an organization could understand and apply at performance appraisal time.    

Consider the following questions.  Can a person be viewed as an able leader if the organization goes into bankruptcy? What about the leader of a company that consistently fails to meet performance and earnings goals? What about organizations that suffer through massive layoffs? Does a good leader perpetuate a toxic work environment or where corruption and scandal are pervasive?

To add even more confusion to the topic is the public’s lack of confidence in leadership.  One only needs to scan the newspaper to see that polls indicate a lack of confidence in the leaders of many of our most revered institutions.   There is a crisis of leadership today.  It is pervasive through all aspects of our society – government business, religion, nonprofit.   It appears traditional thinking about the qualities of a leader is not factored in our approval or disapproval of their behavior.  Is quality leadership directly determined by where you sit in the organization?     Or could personal beliefs, political opinion or a person’s ideology be the significant factor that people seek in a leader? 

This situation reminds me of the sensitive subject of modern-day Christianity and more specifically, recognizing what Christian behavior looks like.  The teachings of the Bible provides a framework for evaluating Christian behavior.    There are differing opinions about how this plays out in day-to-day life.    How often do we hear people have differing views of Christian behavior when looking at the same situation? 

My perspective on the subject derives from over 30 years of working in a very active city government.  And like many organizations in both the private and public sector, strong and effective leaders were critical to the success of the organization.  The ability to get people to perform and implement public policy was the goal.  I was exposed to many styles, personalities, and approaches to developing a culture of leadership.   And I was introduced to varies training programs designed to build a culture of leadership among executives.   Most were not favorable received due to their lack of understanding of the approach or the long-term commitment to its success. The sessions became so commonplace that they were viewed as the next “new thing.”     

It was during my graduate work that I begin to immerse myself into various leadership theories.  What was lacking for me was a clear, measurable definition of what makes a good leader that makes sense and can be used to evaluate.  My search was to find a simple structured description that met the following criteria

• Measurable – having the ability to objectively decide if and to what degree a person has exhibited leadership

• Understandable – how easily the concept can be explained and understood

• Sustainable – able to continue over the long run and through leadership changes.  The definition becomes a part of the culture of the organization.   

Each of these is critically important.   The intent here is to develop a measure of leadership.   To measure you must understand what you are evaluating.  And if you can’t sustain a culture of strong leadership, then the organization will suffer long-term.    

I hope this sets the stage for “A Different Take On Leadership,” a monthly blog that discusses various aspects of measuring and evaluating leadership.   Like all blogs, it will be an open dialogue for you the reader to engage and send your thoughts.  The next installment will present a simple, straightforward definition of leadership that can be used as the basis for evaluating current team’s leadership skills.   Future editions of the blog will dissect the critical components of the definition to give you a greater understanding of each part and how to apply the concept.

I look forward to having an active and fruitful discussion with you.  Let me hear your take on leadership!