Can I be a leader?

We observe many leadership styles in leaders around us such as Steve Jobs and Bill
Gates of the same generation whose styles were different from each other; In
comparison Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos may seem to have more similarities than
differences. Then there is charismatic leadership style of Richard Branson or styles of
leaders from other side of globe such as Jack Ma. We also have political or mass leaders
such as Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi who inspired a generation for a new
world.

With so many different leadership styles, it's not very difficult to conclude that
leadership is not unidimensional, there is no-one style fit all situation. Among the
world leaders of today various styles can be seen to exist – on one extreme of being an
autocratic style to another extreme of having a laissez-faire style.

Decoding leadership

Leadership is a relationship that exists between two sets of people - leader & followers. So,
leadership itself is not a personality trait however style of leadership is.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, A Leader is

a) someone who guides other people
b) a powerful person who controls or influences what other people do: a person who leads a
group, organization, country, etc.
c) someone or something that is ahead of others in a race or competition

Let’s focus on the first TWO aspects of the definition, which are centered around a person who
can steer or draw out the action from others.
Leadership creates a hierarchical structure in society that is different from Peer-to-Peer. Followers
have a person to look up to for guidance, advice, instructions, or control between themselves.
Leadership helps creates order in society and in many instances helps bring effectiveness to
collective actions.

Leading from front or leading from behind

Leadership generally linked to leading from the front. However, there is an important dimension,
which is leading from behind. In this style, the leader leads the team as a coach or mentor, builds
consensus between them, motivates them, stays with them as required, and knows when to back
off. The leader here is a self-confident person and has risen beyond the petty self-interests and is
also very clear of the purpose. The motto here is “credits” are collective and “blames” are mine.

Is there a universal leadership “criterion” or is leadership “contextual”?

Contextual” meaning different styles or a combination of styles for occasions or setup as

required i.e. a leader may demonstrate one or more of the following styles as the situation
demands:
- Command and control – Do as I say
- Leading from the front – Do as I do
- Consensus-oriented – What do you folks think?
- Coaching – Why don’t we consider this?
- For-You – I am there for you
- Hands-off – Carry on, let me know if you need me
- Transactional – do this get rewarded, or else punished
- Transformational – this is our vision and we together will achieve it

A situation or setup could be a corporate setup in an old-world corporate organization or new-

age startup, or it could be military setup or a political setup or a temporary setup for a cause.
Even though situation demands a certain leadership style for effectiveness there is an
overwhelming influence of personality traits of the leader in the leadership style so
demonstrated.

Zooming in on leadership traits

As discussed before a leadership style is hugely influenced by the leader’s personality traits, can
those traits be delineated to define “common-core” of such traits. Those traits which may help
establish pre-qualification of a person as leader.
What are these “Common-Core” of leadership traits?

To describe “common-core” of leadership traits, a layered-leadership characteristics model is

shown below in a corporate context:

1. Human or Personality characteristics essentially focused on humanness or soft

aspect: being humble, empathetic, helpful, honest, sincere, hardworking, patient, stable and
mature, who does not get easily troubled or panicked, soft-spoken

2. Professional characteristics are those which heighten the effectiveness of human

capabilities in the professional work environment. The individual might not be the best in
class, but professional characteristic strength help demonstrates above-par value addition
in their role

3. Corporate leadership characteristics are the ones who could help realize organizational
goals by taking people along: Ability to see the larger picture, works broader benefits,
excellent communicator, able to translate vision into actionable items and motivate
people.

Though the model is defined keeping corporate context in mind, however it may also be with
some tweaks be applied outside the corporate world.

On top of this “common-core” of traits, would come the adaptability to the context to have
effective contextual leadership!
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“The real value of leadership is not in the work a leader does itself, but in the work, they inspire
others to do! “

Views expressed here, are entirely authors own and no harm, to anyone is intended.