Thursday, May 15, 2008

What is leadership?

I've had some positive feedback on my rant on leadership in the Financial Post this week.

I call it a rant because I was tired of meeting entrepreneurs (and other business leaders) who just don't get what true leadership is all about. Just being "in charge" doesn't make you a leader, any more than wearing a geeky green gown makes you a doctor.

"Real" leadership requires vision, a plan, empathy and collaboration. It requires a little more effort on your part than giving orders and awaiting results.

Or as I said in Monday's article:

"Leadership is the art of aligning people behind a goal. It's the ability to persuade people to share objectives, and help them find joy and pride in accomplishing things together;
- It is not about accomplishing things yourself. It's about communicating: creating hope and empowering others to act."

For the full story, click here.
(I apologize that the Post's method of uploading stories to the Web eliminates some of the bullet points and paragraph breaks. I will bring it to their attention.)

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