The title of this text can be rephrased and still maintain the same core ideas. “Leadership” often means guiding an individual or a group to the completion of a shared vision in a manner that empowers and involves everyone to act decisively. Sometimes, it is seen as the quality of going first, of being the first over the hill, the character of a stakeholder. At other times, leaders are not necessarily expected to make “hit ’em over the head” pronouncements of what they believe ought to be and lead in implicit, as well as explicit, ways. Barack Obama has been characterized by many in the latter way. On February 10, 2007, during his presidential campaign, he may have made an explicit statement that neither he nor others involved in his campaign were “seeking to canonize the ideas of some college professor,” but that statement was seen by many scholars the very next day as a way of implicitly indicating that his ideas were not necessarily found in the works of the professors of the universities he attended—Harvard and Columbia—and that in seeking to evaluate his ideas on the basis of anything other than the ideas themselves, one was implicitly being intellectually dishonest.
Being a leader means having the ability to multitask. You must not only be able to influence people but also have a vision that gets others to follow you. You also need integrity so people know you have high character and expect the same from them. Moreover, change is a given in all aspects of life and a leader must be able to steer the ship through all types of wave conditions. Since this is a difficult set of skills to acquire, developing them is an essential part of the collegiate and adult experience.
Fundamentally, leadership is the art of kindling and sustaining enthusiasm toward a future that is as-yet only an idea in the leader’s mind. More prosaically, leadership is “first a vision and then a kind of persuasive force you exert on others to share that vision.” A vision is a destination, a picture of what could be. If it is a good vision, it should both excite and frighten you.
Effective leadership is characterized by a clear, positive and motivating vision. Leaders who can paint a clear and beautiful picture of a better tomorrow and influence others to move with them toward that new reality. Really, what is leadership without vision? It’s just a job title. And a vision isn’t something to blurt out in a company brochure or at an all-hands meeting. A true and compelling vision is the product of much thought and is something that leaders return to time and again, and reflect upon during what could be called the most “important” times of leadership.
Furthermore, good leadership is all about being honest and having good morals. If a leader is going to be an effective one and get the job done the right way, they must be someone their followers can trust. You cannot trust someone who is not honest; therefore, leaders must be at all times. Everyday leaders are faced with many decisions that can alter the direction of their teams or organizations, and every decision they make should always consider how it affects the morals and values of the team and those affected by their choice.
Successful leadership goes beyond good vision and integrity. It requires one to have the ability to inspire and effect change in others. This is because, in truth, nobody really does anything by themselves—a leader is only as good as the people they lead. A leader who forges unbreakable bonds with their people has a distinct advantage in terms of getting what they want. In this realm, the development of sound interpersonal skills is supremely important. The follower can trust the leader’s emotions and feelings; thus, they can follow the leader’s commands.
In addition, being an effective leader means giving people the power to be accountable for their work. It means not just telling them what to do but also allowing them to decide how to do it and what to do next. This can be risky because it’s their decision and, by error or omission, they could fracas. But when leaders are effective, they’re also good at giving people the help they need and the time they need to deliver good results.
Individuals who desire to build good leadership skills have many tactics at their disposal. Among the most straightforward, leadership development and effective leadership cultivation programs are quite common. Also quite common, leadership workshops and training courses are held around the country; seminars and rigorous professional development programs are similar in nature. They all provide participants with an array of knowledge and an opportunity to test out various theories in the laboratory of everyday leadership. College and university courses in what is sometimes called “formal leader education” most likely have the biggest impact among these learning strategies. These programs tend to take place over a long enough time frame (usually several semesters) that a person can truly grow into a good leadership role.
To sum up, leadership is an important talent that allows teams, organizations, and communities to grow. It is not just a skill but an art that helps people to inspire and influence others, singly and collectively, to reach for greatness. On the downside, not everyone who calls themselves a leader leads in the positive way that you and I would like to see. That is why the topic of leadership, and especially its development and cultivation, is so important. Mostly, in addition to cultivating an array of other skills, a leader has to cultivate the skill of vision.
