What Is Leadership?

How would you define Leadership in your own words? Expert John Maxwell defines it as ‘Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less’. However, I think that includes just one of three words that should be in any definition.

What about you? How would you define it?

So, according to leadership expert and writer John Adair, the word ‘lead’ linguistically goes back to an old anglo-saxon word ‘Iaed’, meaning a way that was taken by people, such as a well trodden path through a wood or across a meadow. It is likely to have been influenced by another old English word, ‘leaden’, meaning to accompany, guide or show the way. 

This very much relates to leadership, as it means it is a journey word, and every journey has a destination. In leadership, we call that destination a goal, objective, vision or other ‘target’ word. Goal, or a similar word, should really be in any definition, because every leader has to know the team’s direction to go – in other words, the goal/goals to be achieved. Sometimes they are given to the manager, sometimes they create them. 

Another important word is ‘people’ or ‘followers’. As the saying goes, a leader without followers is just taking a walk. Without people, you cannot achieve your goal/goals and reach your destination. 

A final must word is John Maxwell’s one, ‘influence’. A packed word, as so much that managers do relates to influencing employees: effective communication, coaching, motivating, inspiring, delegating and empowering and so on. All of this comes under the word ‘influence’. 

This leads to an effective leadership definition I came to a number of years ago, having taught it for some time : “Leadership is creating or agreeing one or more goals and influencing more or more people in attempting to achieve them”.

This is leadership defined. See what you think?