Let it be said if you want to be successful you had better understand leadership. Leadership is defined as the capacity to lead.
Having served over 20 years in the United States Air Force as a military officer my primary responsibilities included leading people. As a young officer, one of the initial observations I made was the direction people in leadership positions took their subordinates.
In other words, leadership is influencing. Leaders of influence impact your journey on a destination. I list three key objectives for identifying a leader of influence:
1.) It's important to understand there are no born leaders. In other words the leaders you see today developed their leadership skills by becoming lifelong learners. We all have to pay our dues if we want to become more effective leaders.
Prior to becoming a military officer, I attended leadership programs offered through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. Immediately after the beginning of my first tour of duty I was encouraged to attend Squadron Officer school. During the middle of my career I attended Air Command and Staff College. Last but certainly not least, I attended Air War College.
The moral of this story is, leaders are made rather than born and the valuable gems pertaining to being a leader of influence become more evident.
2.) Proactive participation is another another way to become a leader of influence. What do I mean by this?
For example, if a person schedules a meeting with people in his organization it is assumed he is the leader. This could not be further from the truth. Why?
There is a positional leader, in this case the person scheduling the meeting and then there is the real leader.
The real leader is the person who will influence people to get task accomplished. One becomes a leader of influence by allowing the real leader to do what he/she needs to do to get the job done.
3.) Developing other leaders is critical to organizational success. It takes a leader to develop other leaders. I will explain.
Leaders who develop followers do not experience a exponential increase in results. Only through developing other leaders can increased productivity occur. The bottom line is, the potential of the organization depends on the growth of it's leadership.
Likewise the potential of the organization depends of the development of other leaders. If we first develop our own leadership qualities, only then will we be capable of attracting people with leadership potential.
In summary, there are no born leaders, proactive participation is what separates true leaders and assumed leaders, and developing other leaders along the way is key to being a leader of influence.
Leadership is influencing because people are attracted to people they respect. What about you? Go forth and influence.