At a recent social gathering, a friend of mine shared what he thought was a funny anecdote.
One hundred leaders from across industries were gathered together and asked to define ‘leadership’ from which 102 definitions were generated. I asked, “Why 102?” He replied, “There were two politicians among the group.”
As funny as it might have been to discuss the flipping definitions of the politicians in the current political climate, the relevant point was that there is no consensus regarding a single definition of leadership.
The fact is that in the nearly 20 years of facilitating leadership development programs, I have yet to see the same definition emerge from any two individuals or program cohorts. While this might be a fault of the facilitator, it has more to do with the varied perspectives of individuals in defining leadership for themselves. After all, each of them had made a conscious choice to lead, and in doing so, had sought out opportunities to learn what it means to be a leader.
While the concept of leadership may defy a universal definition, most would agree that good leadership is fairly easy to recognize. Leadership is not a associated with a title or position, but rather a result of a conscious choice; and while popular literature has associated leadership with a particular mindset, in reality, true authentic leadership requires an expanding mindset. A mindset by definition, is fixed. A leadership mindset requires principled beliefs, purpose and passion, an ability to shift as conditions change and a commitment to ongoing learning.
What are you doing to enhance the agility of your leadership mindset?
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