What is Leadership?

A friend asked me the other day for my thoughts on leadership. Quite a broad question, and it has taken me a few days to put my thoughts into words! Firstly, I hadn’t ever considered what leadership means to me or been asked to give my view. So, here are some thoughts.

In just a couple of weeks, many people from around the world will be gathering nearby at the Hay Festival www.hayfestival.com. Nearly half a million people visit the festival to see and listen to those appearing, many of whom are leaders in their field. They range from authors, business leaders, politicians, lawyers, journalists and leaders of faiths. What links them all and why do we recognise them as leaders?

Richard Branson was recently quoted as saying that great leaders, “are great listeners who know their best asset is the people they work with”. I believe that what also sets them apart is their self belief, confidence and - the most important - being true to their own values. No matter how much belief and confidence we have in ourselves, if we are not true to our values, we cannot achieve our greatest potential, nor expect to help others achieve theirs.

Noted ethicist and educator Dr Robert Rue noted that: “Values are the essence of who we are as human beings. Our values get us out of bed every morning, help us select the work we do, the company we keep, the relationships we build, and ultimately, the groups and organizations that we lead. Our values influence every decision and move we make, even to the point of how we choose to make our decisions.”

The best leaders in the world appear to be those who adhere to a strong set of their own beliefs and values. These leaders encourage others around them to do the same, and base their decisions on those values. Someone who based his life on those principles is our son’s idol Nelson Mandela, who said, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

A company or individual whose values match our own is more likely to win our trust and therefore our business or our co-operation. A successful company will seek to employ leaders whose personal values echo its corporate values. A successful parent will raise their child to understand what they value and the child will follow their example.

Horses are herd animals, much like us, and use the strengths of each member of the herd. So the older mare of a wild herd may not be a leader when it comes to protecting the herd; this may fall to a young stallion. But she may be the leader in finding the best grazing and watering hole. She has travelled the routes many more years and so the herd use her strengths. The whole herd shares the same values in life, survive and reproduce, and so the whole herd benefits, and has done for many thousands of years. How sophisticated is that? Perhaps we can learn a thing or two about our own leadership by watching horses in their daily life?

As I have said before, good leaders can make others do what they want. Great leaders inspire others to want to do it.