What is Leadership really means?
Posted by Babou on February 17, 2008
Let us briefly discuss about what Leadership really means.
Leadership means giving guidance or direction. If a person has to be called as a ‘Leader’ then he needs to have followers. A guy without a follower is just another person in the world and cannot be called as Leader at all.
Termed little differently, Leadership is the ability to motivate a group people towards a common goal and be an inspiration by working along with them.
Leadership is a quality or characteristics which can be developed by practice. So, what do one need to practice? Practicing certain principles, which are called Leadership Principles, throughout the life.
John C. Maxwell, a leadership guru, wrote “Leadership is influence; without influence one cannot lead.” He also mentioned that his favorite proverb on Leadership is “He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.”
From all discussion presented above, let me summarize the general components of leadership:
i) Leadership is a process – it will not stop at a point. Even some leaders live beyond their life time!
ii) Leadership involves a group of people – it does not starts & ends with an individual
iii) Leadership involves influence – influence happens through motivation & inspiration
iv) Leadership aims on goal attainment.
With this brief introduction of Leadership, let us discuss few questions related to Leadership like Leadership styles, Leadership principles, difference between leadership and management, Required qualities of a Leader, etc. in next topics.
