What does it mean to be a leader?

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 Because the term “leader” or “leadership” is so frequently misused or
misunderstood , it is important that we begin by defining what these
terms mean . Unfortunately , the use of the term “leader” has been
popularly broadened to include almost anyone in top management or
in an elected position .

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 Leadership defined
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 Leadership defined
It would appear that no one has really satisfactorily defined the concept of leadership . One
might hear it said that “I can't really describe leadership , but i know it when i see it”.
- In fact , attempted definitions of leadership do not really explain leadership; they at
best merely convey the essence of leadership from a particular point of view .
- For example , in a typical community , the term may refer to anyone in the
community who has relatively high visibility , such as elected officials .
- In an organization , it often is used to highlight the executive director , president ,
and/or Board members. However , a leader is certainly more than someone who is a
widely recognized individual or who possesses organizational authority

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 Leadership defined
Some view leadership as a series of specific traits or characteristics . Others see it as
comprised of certain skills and knowledge . And some think of leadership as a process that
places an emphasis on social interaction and relationships. A more encompassing
perception of a leader is offered by Sorenson & Epps:
- A force and dynamic personality who really leads from the front and architected
implementer of strategy;
- and mediator in conflict situations an integrator who as source the climate of the
organization;
- a person able to motivate subordinates and who , by persuasion , compulsion or
example to others succeeds in getting others to follow the leaders wishes .

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 Leadership defined

- Another definition by John Seaman Garns is that “leaders are

just ordinary people with extraordinary determination”. Harvard
Professor Rosabeth Ross Kanter suggests that leadership is
“the art of mastering change . . . the ability to mobilize others’
efforts in new directions”.

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 Leadership defined
- Although it may be difficult to precisely define leadership , it is important
to have a better understanding of what it means if anyone is attempting
to learn how to become a leader or more effective leader .
- To begin with , however leadership is defined , a leader is someone who
has developed a group of followers . These followers have found
something in that leader that encourages them to “get hitched to his/her
wagon” . In fact , people tend to be attracted to leaders whose values
are similar to their own .

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 Leadership defined

One measure of leadership is the caliber of

people who choose to follow you . Dennis
A. Peer .

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 Leadership defined

Leadership is certainly more than “finding a parade and getting in

front of it” . According to Vance Packard , “leadership appears to be
the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced
should be done”.
- Harry Truman succinctly stated, “Leadership is the ability to get
men to do what they don't want to do and like it”.

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 Leadership as Influencing Others
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 Leadership as Influencing Others
Most articles and books on the topic of leadership indicated it means influencing the actions
of others . Ken Blanchard , the author of a number of books and articles on leadership has
defined it as follows:
- In any situation in which someone is trying to influence the behavior of another
individual or group , leadership is occurring . Thus , everyone attempts leadership at
one time or another , whether his or her activities are centered on a business ,
educational institution , political organization , economic development organization , or
family . Blanchard more recently defined leadership as the capacity to influence others
by unleashing their power and potential to impact the greater good .

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 Leadership as Influencing Others
This is similar to Northouse’s defining of leadership as “a process whereby
individuals influence groups of individuals to achieve shared goals are commonly
desired outcomes” .
- The Army defines leadership as influencing people by providing purpose ,
direction , and motivation , while operating to accomplish the mission and
improve the organization .
- The leadership role in an organization is assumed when an individual or
group of individuals has a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished
and is able to get the members of the organization to strive willingly for
common goals .

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 Leadership as Influencing Others
The most effective means of influencing people is through communication . A leader
communicates to his or her followers a direction that they should move toward and
tries to influence their attitudes so that they will be ready to move in that direction .
- This requires vision on the part of a leader and the ability to guide people toward
a common goal .
- Clearly , the capability of the organization's leadership to channel the energy of
the members of the organization to act at what needs to be done determines the
effectiveness of those leaders and the potential impact of organization .

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 Leadership as Influencing Others
Obviously , a leader can only exercise influence if people are willing to be influenced . It is
also likely that the followers will not totally share the same thinking of the leader .
- Despite this , they may go along with the desires of a particular leader in order to
achieve a particular outcome .
- Ideally , everyone should share the same vision so that they can be working toward
accomplishing the same goals .
- If not , leaders can often exert their influence to refocus people's energy through an
appropriate group process so that they more comfortably move toward what needs to
be done .

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 Leadership as Influencing Others

- The core problem for leaders in any organization involves getting

others to do what is required to accomplish the organization’s
goals. Leaders today work in socially intricate organizations
where they need the assistance not only of subordinates but
also appears , superiors , and stakeholders to accomplish their
goals . Accomplishing goals that impact organization positively
clearly requires effective leadership .

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 Leadership as Influencing Others

The test of a leader lies in the reaction and response of his

followers . He should not have to impose authority . Bossiness in
itself never made a leader . He must make his influence felt by
example and the installing of confidence in his followers . The
greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the
led . This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness . General Omar
Bradley .

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 Leadership as Influencing Others
John Kotter, writing in Power and Influence Beyond Formal Authority,
states that enlightened leaders can make even rigid bureaucracies more
flexible, innovative, and adaptive . Such leaders can certainly make you
the world of work more exciting and personally satisfying for most
people .
- This is particularly true when all the members of an organization feel
some sense of participation as leaders at some level .

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 Leadership as Influencing Others

A leader’s responsibility to the organization is to ensure that there is

appropriate leadership of some sort at all times , but this does not
always or necessarily have to be provided by top management .
- As will be discussed in this book , management and leadership
are not necessarily synonyms .
- Generally , the stronger than evolved meant of staff and
organization members as leaders at some level , the more
effective the organization .

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 Leadership as Influencing Others

A leader's ability to influence people to act does not necessarily

come from special powers . It more often comes from a strong
believer in a purpose and willingness to pursue that conviction .
- In addition , a leader must have the courage to accept the risks
associated with the struggle to attain organizational goals , and
the skills to develop a consensus .

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?

Leaders are made, they are not born. They

are made by hard effort, which is the price
which all of us must pay to achieve any
goal that is worthwhile. Vince Lombardi

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?

How does an individual achieve a leadership role? How many times

have you heard someone described as a natural born leader? It
seems that many people assume that some people come into this
world with a natural capacity to lead, and everybody else doesn’t,
and there’s not much you can do about it.

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?
Despite these general perceptions to the contrary, leaders are not born; they are nurtured. It
should be mentioned, however, that a potential leader can be born with innate qualities that
predispose them to being leaders, such as natural intelligence and the ability to learn.
- This doesn’t mean that effective leaders are the smartest people in the room or the
organization, but they have to be smart enough to make decisions and to mobilize
resources to do the work that is needed. In that sense, the debate about whether
leaders are born or made is really important.
- It’s not about how leadership was acquired by someone; it’s more about how he or she
acted on it that makes the difference.

It’s not what you’ve been given, but what you do with it that matters.

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?

While the basic desire or motivation to be a leader cannot be taught,

early childhood development of self-worth, self-confidence, and a
concern for others can help to nurture leadership characteristics.
Successful leaders have also worked hard to gain valuable
experience, perspective, and knowledge to become someone who
others want to follow.

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?
Understanding whether top management in your organization thinks leaders are
born or made can be critical because these attitudes play out in decisions of who
to recruit to the organization and/or how staff will be developed.
- The approach of believing that people are born leaders is likely to result in a
focus more on selection (identifying the right people) rather than on
development (developing the people you hire).
- On the other hand, believing that people are made into leaders by their
learning and their experiences would be more likely to result in a greater
focus on making certain that people had the right opportunities to develop
into leaders.

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?

- In other words, will your organization spend its money on

selecting people believed to be born leaders, or on developing
people into becoming leaders?
- Will executives emphasize selection of talent and only invest in
those who they believe have leadership potential?
- Or will they see value in developing talent among a broad group
of people?
-

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?
Research has shown clearly that extraverts, which may be an in-born characteristic, have
greater leadership potential than introverts. However, evidence indicates that only the
socially skilled extraverts emerge as leaders, and it can probably be safely assumed that
social skills are learned.
- It would appear that extraversion is only an in-born leadership advantage if one also
learns and develops effective “soft skills” such as communication and being able to
connect with people.
- Otherwise, if people possessing early gifts for leading don’t build on their capacities
and instead rest on their laurels, they are destined for a life of frustration and lack of
fulfillment as leaders.

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 Leadership: Born to It or Nurtured?
Understanding leadership development is a complex affair, however, since a wide range of varying
experiences contribute to that development. It is important to point out that two people can have many
similar experiences and events in their life at the same point in their development, but end up very
dissimilar in terms of their leadership potential. One person may be satisfied with life in the “slow lane”
while another has a high level of motivation to make a major impact on his or her “world.”

John Gardner, in his book On Leadership, noted that most of what leaders have that enables them to lead
is learned. Leadership is not a mysterious activity. And the capacity to perform those tasks is widely
distributed in the population. Subsequent chapters of this book will demonstrate how basic leadership
competencies and skills can be developed and nurtured through a variety of means including education,
training, and experience.

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 Leadership and Inspiration

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 Leadership and Inspiration
Clearly, leaders must be able to inspire people if they are to have followers, but this
means that they have to have something worthy of inspiration to communicate.
People will be inspired if they strongly desire and believe in what the leader stands
for.
- The leader has to be going somewhere desirable, and must be able to persuade
other people to go along.
- The ability to communicate and invoke action is more important than any other
specific personal leadership style or characteristic.
- The concept of inspiration will be covered in more detail in subsequent chapters
of this book.

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 Facilitating the Learning of Leadership
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 Facilitating the Learning of Leadership
Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline) and other noted leadership experts say that
the primary job of leaders now is the facilitation of learning. People don’t change
their behavior unless they first change their attitudes, and this type of change
generally comes through a process of learning.
- Learners must be able to make a compelling case for the current need for
change, or their constituents will stay satisfied with the existing situation, no
matter how bad it is.
- A considerable portion of this book will be devoted to clarifying the learning
of leadership competencies and skills.

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 Leadership in Transition

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 Leadership in Transition
The importance of good leadership is not a recent phenomenon. Leaders have been
critical to effective organizations since people first started working together. However,
the nature of this leadership has undergone some changes.
- The mobility of the nation’s population and the resulting loss of a “sense of
community” in the last half of the 20th century into the beginning of this century
have made it easier for people to identify with the more highly visible political
leaders than with the less visible economic leadership in the community and
region who so frequently played a key role in the past.

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 Leadership in Transition
A look at recent trends can also provide a common understanding of the importance of leadership
to nonprofit organizations such as local government agencies, changers of commerce, or
economical development organizations (EDOs).
- The shortage of effective leadership is evident in just about every form of local organization.
- Thus, when we complain about the scarcity of leadership talent in our communities, we not
talking about a lack of people to fill organizational positions, but rather a scarcity of people
who are willing and able to assume significant leadership roles.
- The challenge for the economic development professional is to use existing leaders
effectively and to recruit and train new leadership talent for the organization.
- The focus of the rest of this book will be on developing leadership within and through the
economic development organization.

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