You’re not a leader just because you have people reporting to you, and you don’t suddenly become a leader once you reach a certain pay grade. A true leader influences others to be their best. Photo: istockphoto.com.
Travis Bradberry defines leadership in the workplace — and warns it does not necessarily mean the person with the title, the most reports or the corner office.
Leadership is the art of persuasion — the act of motivating people to do more than they ever thought possible in pursuit of a greater good.
It has nothing to do with your title, authority, or seniority.
You’re not a leader just because you have people reporting to you, and you don’t suddenly become a leader once you reach a certain pay grade.
A true leader influences others to be their best. Leadership is about social influence, not positional power.
You don’t even need to have people reporting to you to be a leader. A janitor can influence people and lead just as a CEO can.
Likewise, anyone can become a follower, even while holding a leadership position. If you’re a slave to the status quo, lack vision, or don’t motivate everyone around you to be their absolute best, then you’re a follower. Even if you happen to have a leadership title, people won’t follow you when they see that behaviour.
A senior executive who creates unnecessary bureaucracy, locks themself in their office, and fails to interact with others in any meaningful way is no more a leader than an antisocial software engineer who refuses to do anything but write code.
Are you a leader or a follower? To find out, ask yourself some of these questions.
Do you go above and beyond? Followers do their jobs, and that’s it. No matter how good they may be at those jobs, it rarely occurs to them to go beyond their basic functions.
Leaders, on the other hand, see their job descriptions as the bare minimum. Their real role is adding value, and they add it whenever and wherever they see an opportunity.
Are you confident? Followers see the talents and accomplishments of other people as a threat. Leaders see those same talents and accomplishments as an asset.
Leaders want to make things better, and they’ll take help anywhere they can find it. They are team players who aren’t afraid to admit they need other people to be strong where they’re weak.
Are you optimistic? Followers see the limitations inherent in any given situation; leaders see the possibilities.
When things go wrong, leaders don’t dwell on how bad things are, they’re too busy trying to make things better.
Are you open to change? Followers are content to stick with the safety of the status quo. They see change as frightening and troublesome.
Leaders are maximisers who see opportunity in change. They’re never afraid to ask: “What’s next?”
Are you decisive? Followers often hesitate to act, out of fear they’ll do the wrong thing.
Leaders would rather make a decision and be wrong than suffer from the paralysis of indecision.
Are you accountable? When mistakes are made, followers are quick to blame circumstances and other people.
Leaders don’t worry that admitting fault may make them look bad, because they know that shifting the blame would just make them look worse.
Are you unflappable? Followers often let obstacles and mishaps throw them off course, assuming the whole project is doomed.
Leaders know that even the best-laid plans can run into unexpected problems, so they take problems in their stride.
Are you humble? Followers are always chasing glory. Leaders are humble. They don’t allow any authority they may have to make them feel they are better than anyone else.
They don’t hesitate to jump in and do the dirty work when needed, and won’t ask anyone to do anything they wouldn’t be willing to do themselves.
Are you passionate? Followers are trapped in the daily grind. They go to work and complete their tasks so they can go home and resume their real lives.
Leaders love what they do and see their work as an important part of real life.
Are you motivated from within? Followers are only motivated by external factors — the next title, the next raise, the next gain in status.
Leaders are internally motivated. They don’t work for status or possessions. They are motivated to excel because it’s who they are and they keep pushing forward even when there’s no carrot dangling in front of them.
Do you focus on titles? Followers care a lot about titles, both their own and those of the people they work with. They’re very conscious of who outranks whom.
Leaders focus on what each individual brings to the table, regardless of what’s printed on a business card.
Are you focused on people? Followers focus on what they can achieve individually.
Leaders are team players, because they know that greatness is a collective feat. A leader is only as good as what he or she can achieve through other people.
Are you willing to learn? Leaders, while confident, know they’re neither superhuman nor infallible and are not afraid to admit when they don’t know something.
They’re willing to learn from anyone who can teach them, whether that person is a subordinate, a peer, or a superior.
Followers are too busy trying to prove they’re competent to learn anything from anyone else.
Leadership and followership are mindsets. They’re completely different ways of looking at the world. One is reactive, the other is proactive; one is pessimistic, the other is optimistic.
So don’t wait for the title. Leadership isn’t something that anyone can give you — you have to earn it and claim it for yourself.
Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the co-founder of TalentSmart. His books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. He can be contacted at TalentSmart.com. This article first appeared on the TalentSmart website.
