What is Leadership?

• Video Transcript:

  Hey everybody, Jered Slusher here. And today I’m going to answer the question “What is leadership.”

  Over the past year, I’ve read hundreds of books and articles on leadership with the goal of capturing the essence of what it takes to be a leader so that I could apply it to my life and share it with you.

  Now, what I found is remarkable.

  The leadership community is literally at war over what the definition of leadership is. I’m not kidding you. There are dozens of leadership theories, and literally thousands of definitions of leadership. It seems as though everyone in the community is trying to redefine leadership.

  Here’s the real problem: Most of these definitions are long, drawn-out, complex interpretations that are geared for big corporations… or they try to focus in on what a good leader should do, rather than what leadership really is.

  I’ve grown tired of the verbose definitions of leadership used by “leadership gurus,” and I’m convinced that these definitions mystify the topic of leadership and make it much harder to understand.

  I thought: There has to be a simpler way.

  So, I turned to a dictionary for a little help.

  What I found was even more remarkable: There in black and white is what I feel is the essence of leadership.

  Now, before we begin… I’m pretty sure that nobody else is going to teach this because, quite simply, it may be too simple. I think a lot of people like to sound smart, so they use these intricate definitions of leadership that mesmerize people.

  You know, I thought to myself, “That’s not right. The idea is to teach this stuff so people can learn and grow from it. Our goal should be to express the truth about leadership to inspire leadership, not impress people with our intellect.”

  So with that being said, let’s get to it.

  First the definition of leadership. And by the way, I want to say congratulations to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus for winning the exclusive honor of providing the definitions for this discussion.

  Alright here it is:

  Leadership is simply: The act of leading.

  Okay, simple enough. So what do we call someone who engages in leadership? A leader, right?

  A leader is defined as: a person who leads. Again we’ve got 4 words. Very simple language. A leader is simply a person engaged in the act of leading.

  So, you know that leadership is the act of leading, and a leader is a person who leads. That leaves one question left: what does it mean to lead?

  Here it is:

  To lead is “to guide on a way.”

  Wow. That’s powerful language. Let it sink in for a moment. “To guide on a way.”

  There’s two parts to this leading equation: Guiding, and the way.

  To guide is to direct, supervise or influence, usually to a particular end.

  And “a way” is a course, a route — or my personal favorite… a possibility.

  Any time you are involved in guiding something or someone on a path, you are being a leader. This principle works in all aspects of your life.

  Let’s take for example the most trivial task of taking out the trash. You might think, what does leadership have to do with taking out the trash? Well, when you take out the trash, you are a leader because you guide the trash from the trashcan to the dumpster. You are taking the trash to an end location. As well, you choose the path that you will travel to get the trash from point A to point B.

  But, what about the child who is told to take out the trash? Now, you might look at the situation in terms of a leader – follower relationship. The parent says “Would you please take out the trash…” so the child complies with the leader’s demands. The parent is obviously a leader. The parent is guiding the child to get the trash from point A to point B.

  But, what about the child? Is the child a leader? The answer is yes. The child leads the trash from point A to point B. Because the child can choose any number of ways to move the trash (which is the ability to influence or guide), and choose any number of paths to get the trash from the can to the dumpster( which is the ability to choose a possibility), the child is a leader.

  Stephen Covey, Author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says, “Most people think of leadership as a position and therefore don’t see themselves as leaders.”

  And I have to agree. That’s probably the biggest myth about leadership. Most people think that you have to have an official title like parent, boss, teacher, or coach to be considered a leader. The fact is, that’s simply not true.

  The only thing you need to be a leader is the ability to influence, and to choose the path you’re going to take.

  And here’s another myth about leadership: Leadership only occurs between two people: The leader and the follower.

  The fact is: This is also simply not true.

  In reality, a leader can influence in three different dimensions.

  A leader can lead:

  The Self
  Others
  The Environment

  A leader can guide oneself on a way. For instance, you have the ability to lead your health. You can influence what and how much you choose to eat, as well as how much you choose to exercise. You can influence your finances, as well. You can choose how much money you’re going to invest, save, give away, and spend.

  Certainly, a leader can also lead others. You can influence people to make decisions on a one-on-one level, such as the parent who tells the child to take out the trash. You can influence in small groups or teams, such as sports teams. Or, you can influence in large groups, such as seminars, and classes. You can even influence in companies or organizations. And, you can influence in communities, cities, states, countries, and even the world.

  And, you also have the ability to influence the environment around you. You can control many things about your house, and your yard. Teachers control the environment of their class room. You can influence environmental policy in local, state, and federal governments. And the list goes on and on.

  The fact is: The potential for leadership goes beyond just “How do I lead others.” It also incorporates how the leader influences his or herself, as well as the environment.

  Now, a good portion of leadership research focuses on principles of effective leadership, or the way one should go about influencing oneself, others, or the environment so that they can get what they want. I believe many of these principles are worth studying, and can help a leader achieve great things.

  However, I believe there are really just four fundamentals that encompass all leadership. And we’ll conclude our discussion by touching briefly on the four.

  The Four Fundamentals in all Leadership:

  Here they are:

  Number one is “The End.” The end result is where the leader takes whatever he or she is leading. We call this having a “vision” of the future. It’s your goal.

  A man says, “I need to lose 25 pounds in the next two months.” He’s created an end result for himself. His ideal result is to be 25 pounds lighter. To guide yourself, someone, or something on a way, it’s good to know where you’re going.

  Number two is “The Start.” The start is the origin of where the leader is at the beginning of the quest. We call this evaluating where we are right now.

  That same man says, “I’m 25 pounds overweight. I don’t exercise. I don’t eat well. I don’t feel good about myself, but I know I want to live a more healthy life.”

  We call this affirming the truth. Seeing with absolute clarity where we are.

  Number three is “The Path.” The path is simply the way which the leader takes whatever he or she is leading.

  The man says, “Well, I’m going to buy healthy food: fruit, vegetables, rice… I’m going to throw away all of the bad foods in my house. I’m going to exercise 30 minutes every day.”

  Now, he has made his plan. He has determined the path he will travel. But there’s one last thing he has to do to guide himself on the way to better health.

  And that’s number four. “The Activity.” The activity is the energy that the leader expends while working towards the end result.

  It’s not enough to have a vision, know where you’re starting from, and map out a plan of attack. The leader has to take action.

  The man throws away all of his bad food. He only buys good food. He exercises 30 minutes a day, and at the end of 2 months he looks in the mirror, and guess what? He’s 25 pounds lighter.

  But, leaders have to be extremely careful about making sure to apply the fourth fundamental… The activity.

  What if the same man says “I’m overweight. I want to lose 25 pounds, I’m going to live a healthy lifestyle.” So he maps out everything that he’s going to do, and he feels great about himself. And at the end of the day, he goes to bed saying “tomorrow is the day my whole life changes.”

  Then he wakes up late, he goes and eats fast food for breakfast, he sits at his desk all day, comes home, eats a bag of potato chips, and goes to sleep that night doing absolutely nothing. If he keeps that up, where’s he going to be in two months? Probably worse off than when he started. Right? The key is: you can’t guide on a way without the activity, some sort of movement towards your result.

  So, the question is, how do you remember all this? It’s as easy as 1,2,3,4… One definition, split into two distinct parts, that covers 3 dimensions, and encompasses four basic fundamentals of leadership.

  To lead is to guide on a way. To guide is to direct, supervise or influence, usually to a particular end. A “way” is a course, a route, or a possibility. You can lead in three different ways: your self, others, and the environment. And the four fundamentals to leadership are: The end, the start, the path, and the activity.

  In concluding, I believe that once you realize that you are capable of leading, and that each opportunity in your life is worthy of your leadership, I’m confident that you will be able to open new doors and push forward to succeed in all that you do.

  I want to thank you for your time and allowing me to share with you my philosophy on leadership.This is Jered Slusher wishing you the best in your quest for leadership success.