| Here are 3 popular ways of defining leadership, each | | | | Leadership Reinvented for the 21st Century |
| from a slightly different perspective: | | | | If we cast aside the first two definitions of |
| | | | leadership, what is left? If leadership means nothing |
| 1. Leadership means being the dominant individual in a | | | | more than promoting a better way, then we need to |
| group. | | | | upgrade management to take care of everything to |
| 2. Leadership means getting things done through | | | | do with getting things done through people. We need |
| people. | | | | to say that management does not entail being |
| 3. Leadership means challenging the status quo, | | | | controlling, bureaucratic or theory X, that they can be |
| promoting a better way. For many, leadership means | | | | as inspiring as they need to be, good at coaching, |
| doing all three of these things but there are subtle | | | | developing and empowering people. |
| and important differences. Let's look at them one by | | | | A critical supporting fact is that the power on which |
| one. | | | | leadership is based is shifting from having a dominant |
| - Leadership means being the dominant individual in a | | | | personality to the ability to devise new ways of |
| group. In primitive tribes and higher animal species the | | | | working, new products and better services. |
| dominant individual was the leader. Being the leader | | | | Businesses that compete on the basis of rapid |
| simply meant having the power to attain and hold the | | | | innovation are engaged in a war of ideas and no one |
| top position for a reasonable length of time. Contrary | | | | has a monopoly on good ideas. This is revolutionary |
| to definition 2, you could be the leader without | | | | because it suggests that leadership can no longer be |
| getting anything done through others. A leader was | | | | about group domination. Now, leadership is a brief |
| the person in charge even if the group was in a | | | | influence impact, an episode or act, not an ongoing |
| stable state where people went about their business | | | | state or role. You still may need a larger than life |
| as normal. As long as group members obeyed the | | | | personality to ascend to the role of Chief Executive, |
| leader's rules, the leader did not even need to be | | | | but leadership conceived as a good idea for a better |
| actively involved in the lives of group members, let | | | | way can be very small scale and local. Any employee |
| alone get anything done through them. You could also | | | | with a better idea can promote it, even if only by |
| be the leader in such a group without promoting a | | | | example, without having the personal presence to be |
| better way as suggested by definition 3. If you didn't | | | | promoted to a managerial role. Strictly, speaking |
| need to be voted into power, why have a platform | | | | there are no longer any leaders, only leadership. This |
| for change? You simply seized power; no sales pitch | | | | view captures the fact that leadership is a fleeting |
| was needed on how you could make life better for | | | | state that can shift quickly from one person to |
| the group. Yes, such leaders may have led groups | | | | another. It is an impact rather than a type of person |
| successfully in battle and built great monuments with | | | | or position. It must be so if it can be shown by |
| them, but, strictly speaking, you could be the leader | | | | outsiders. |
| without achieving anything through a group effort. | | | | Key Features of Leadership Reinvented |
| The meaning of leadership, according to this | | | | - It does not involve managing people to get things |
| definition, is simply to be at the top of the pile. | | | | done. |
| - Leadership means getting things done through | | | | - It comes to an end once those led get on board. It |
| people. Great leaders throughout history have led | | | | sells the tickets for the journey; management drives |
| their groups to momentous achievements, but the | | | | the bus to the destination. |
| idea that leadership should be defined as getting | | | | - It is a discrete episode, a one-off act of influence, |
| things done through people has been developed most | | | | not an ongoing position of dominance. |
| fully by modern business, which is all about achieving | | | | - It is based on the promotion of a better way. |
| results. As business has become more complex, the | | | | - It can be shown bottom-up as well as top-down. |
| leadership challenge has grown form one of the | | | | - It can be shown by outsiders and between |
| simple issuing of orders to a few "hands" to the | | | | competing individuals or groups. |
| subtle coordination of highly skilled, diverse knowledge | | | | Thought Leadership - The Essence of Leadership |
| workers to build sophisticated machines and put men | | | | Reinvented |
| on the moon. There is a problem with this definition | | | | Organizations today need all employees to think |
| of leadership, however. It used to belong to | | | | creatively and to promote new products. Promoting a |
| management. Why the switch from management to | | | | better idea can be called thought leadership. In a |
| leadership? And is this a good move? Up to the late | | | | knowledge driven environment, the newest, best |
| 1970's writers used the terms leadership and | | | | idea influences others to get on board. When a |
| management interchangeably but with more emphasis | | | | product developer convinces top management to |
| on management. For example, the management | | | | adopt a new product, that person has shown |
| theorists, Blake and Mouton, developed their famous | | | | thought leadership bottom-up. But it can be shown |
| managerial grid in the 1960's. At the time, it was | | | | across groups as well. When Microsoft develops |
| portrayed as a way of identifying your management | | | | products or services invented by Apple or Google, |
| style. Today, in line with the shift to leadership, the | | | | they are following the lead of these innovators. This |
| name is the same (managerial grid) but it is now | | | | also is thought leadership. |
| positioned as a leadership style instrument. | | | | While the possession of great emotional intelligence |
| Similarly, we used to talk about management style | | | | and the oratory of a Martin Luther King, Jr. can help |
| more than leadership style. Managers could be either | | | | thought leaders make their case, it is vital to see that |
| "theory X" and task oriented or "theory Y" and | | | | these skills are nice to have add-ons, not an essential |
| concerned for people. But a profound shift in thinking | | | | part of the meaning of leadership. Technical geeks |
| took place in a revolutionary period lasting from the | | | | with zero emotional intelligence and an obnoxious |
| late 1970's through the mid 1980's. The cause of this | | | | influencing style can show thought leadership if they |
| upheaval was the commercial success of Japanese | | | | can demonstrate the value of their ideas. This is very |
| industry in North America. This led pundits to claim | | | | empowering because it moves us away from the |
| that the U.S. had lost its competitive edge because | | | | demand to develop sophisticated leadership skills as a |
| U.S. management was too bureaucratic, controlling, | | | | precondition of showing leadership. Strictly speaking |
| uninspiring and inept at fostering innovation. Rather | | | | there are no leadership skills, only influencing skills and |
| than upgrade management, there was an emotional | | | | great content. Imagine asking Tiger Woods. after the |
| over reaction such that management was rejected | | | | end of the third round when he is in the lead, how he |
| and replaced by leadership. Since then, leaders were | | | | developed such great leadership skills. The truth is |
| portrayed as theory Y, inspiring and concerned about | | | | that he shows leadership through being great at the |
| people while management got saddled with all the | | | | content of his profession, not by having a separate |
| bad guy attributes of being controlling, theory X, | | | | set of talents called leadership skills. On the other |
| uninspiring and narrowly task focused. Similarly, the | | | | hand, there are very definite management skills. |
| distinction between being transformational and | | | | Getting work done through people calls for quite |
| transactional was originally launched to differentiate | | | | sophisticated interpersonal and organizational skills. |
| two leadership styles, but it wasn't long before it | | | | Content is King |
| became used to separate leadership from | | | | The point of the previous section is that convincing |
| management, the former being transformational and | | | | content or substance can trump great style or form. |
| the latter transactional. | | | | Having a larger than life personality may still help you |
| In our haste to trash management, we grabbed | | | | get to be CEO but this is the power of style over |
| whatever tools were handy but with heavy costs. | | | | substance. If the prospective leader has enough |
| First, we painted leadership into a corner by | | | | charisma, it almost doesn't matter what is being |
| suggesting that you needed to be an inspiring | | | | advocated (the content). Conversely, thought |
| cheerleader to be a leader, leaving no room for quiet | | | | leadership is most convincing if backed up by hard |
| or simply factual leadership. Second, we created a | | | | evidence. Having persuasive influencing skills helps but |
| bloated concept of leadership by banishing | | | | isn't essential. This means that front line knowledge |
| management. Third, by attaching leadership to getting | | | | workers can focus on what it really takes to show |
| things done through a team, we associated leadership | | | | leadership: begin by developing convincing content. If |
| irrevocably with being in charge of people, thereby | | | | your idea is good enough it will virtually sell itself. It's |
| ruling out positionless leadership. Yes, there is informal | | | | not that influencing skills are not valuable. The point is |
| leadership but this concept is essentially the same as | | | | that we can define leadership without mentioning |
| formal leadership except for their power bases. Like | | | | influencing style. Also, there is the fact that |
| its formal counterpart, informal leadership still means | | | | opportunists will get on board with a great idea with |
| taking charge and managing a group to achieve a | | | | no persuasion whatsoever. Thus, if it is possible to |
| target. In either case, you need to have the personal | | | | show leadership without being personally persuasive, |
| presence, organizational skills and motivation to take | | | | then having such skills cannot be a necessary |
| charge to be a leader. | | | | condition to show leadership. |
| - Leadership means challenging the status quo, | | | | The Future of Leadership |
| promoting a better way. We have always felt, | | | | Leadership reinvented can still be shown by CEOs. |
| intuitively, that leaders have the courage to stand up | | | | They just need to accept that much of what they |
| and be counted. They go against the grain, often at | | | | do needs to be reclassified as management. They |
| great risk, to call for change. We only need to look | | | | also need to devote more time to fostering |
| at Martin Luther King, Jr. His leadership rested not so | | | | leadership in front line employees, thereby taking |
| much on his oratorical skills - they were just icing on | | | | empowerment a huge leap forward. If they want to |
| the cake. He was a leader primarily because he | | | | reap the full innovative potential of all employees, |
| marched and spoke against injustice. He challenged | | | | CEOs and other managers need to engage and |
| the status quo and promoted a better world. | | | | inspire employees more fully. Helping them to see |
| However, and this is the whole point here, if you | | | | how all employees can show leadership now could |
| think through what it means to challenge the status | | | | make all the difference between winning the war of |
| quo or advocate change, there is no necessary | | | | ideas and falling further behind. Where knowledge |
| implication that you have to be in charge of the | | | | rules, the old fashioned conception of leadership as |
| people you are trying to influence. The bottom line is | | | | group domination is dangerously obsolete. Complexity |
| that this third definition, when worked through fully, | | | | drives specialization. It is time to bring management |
| gives us a way to break the stranglehold of the | | | | back from the dead to take care of getting things |
| previous two definitions. The benefit of this move is | | | | done through people, leaving leadership to focus on |
| that we gain a clearer understanding of how all | | | | finding and promoting new directions. |
| employees can show leadership even if they totally | | | | Definition number 1 may still be good enough to |
| lack the skills or inclination to take charge of groups in | | | | capture what happens in small street gangs and |
| a managerial sense, even informally. Think again of | | | | primitive tribes but it is most clearly out of date in a |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. He sought to move the U.S. | | | | world that is a war of ideas. Number 2 is a mess |
| Government and the population at large to think | | | | because it is a total confusion of leadership and |
| differently about such issues as segregation on buses. | | | | management. Only definition number 3 captures all |
| His leadership efforts were successful when the U.S. | | | | leadership - that shown by people in charge, by |
| Supreme Court ruled such discrimination | | | | those with neither the inclination nor the skills to take |
| unconstitutional. Now, it is obvious that he was not in | | | | charge, and by outsiders like Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| a managerial role within the Supreme Court. He | | | | Uniquely, this definition also captures what it means |
| showed leadership to this group as an outsider. You | | | | to be a market leading company or a leading individual |
| could say the same of Jack Welch who had a | | | | or team in sports. Leadership is simply a matter of |
| leadership impact on countless businesses around the | | | | showing the way. One of the many exciting features |
| globe through his novel practices, such as being first | | | | of this definition is that followers must choose to |
| or second in a market. Again, those who followed | | | | follow of their own free will because coercive power |
| the lead of Jack Welch did not report to him. They | | | | and authority are missing. Definition number 3 |
| were not even members of a common group. | | | | captures the essence of pure leadership. |