True Leadership is an Action Verb Not a State of Being !!

The story of the dynamic and charismatic individual that comes in from "Leadership Heaven or The Wilderness" and takes an organization, school, or business by the horns and wills it into relevance and success, is outdated, unrealistic, misinterpreted and misapplied. It is a preferential myth that still plagues many leadership search efforts as well as leadership engagement and change discussions no matter the organization or business. Why are effective leaders and leadership so elusive?

Can you think of five people that you have worked for or were your direct supervisors you would describe as great or good leaders? What qualities or characteristics stand out that would make a casual observer agree with your assessments?

Unless my work and life experiences are not the norm, I couldn't think of five: I could only recall one individual that I would describe as an effective or good leader. Am I being too rigid or critical in determining what an effective or good leader/leadership is? Maybe so, which is one of the points of my discussion. We all have our conscious and unconscious biases that impact what we see and don't see in a leader and their leadership. In many instances these same factors impact who we select as well as how we select leaders.

Many of you would probably agree that there is a leadership void in our world, in our schools, businesses, and organizations. But do you really think governments, schools, businesses and organizations would deliberately elect, bring to power, hire, promote, or support average, ineffective, unprepared, non-empathetic, uncompassionate, and unqualified individuals for leadership positions?

For far too many of us that have had to work and live under poor or incompetent leadership, the answer is an unfortunate yes. How or why does this make any sense to anyone? Why does this continue to happen?

Leadership Theory

There are as many views, discussions, workshops, Ted Talks, posts, books, videos, podcasts, and theories around leadership as there are stars in the sky, so forgive me if I fail to mention one of your favorites.

One must understand that much of "Leadership Development and Theory "is grounded in a multiplicity of views on leadership styles, behaviors, traits, characteristics, and processes that all depend on a variable that can be the most mercurial or unstable factor of every leadership conversation: the human-being that is being considered, selected, or laying claim to or for a position of leadership.

Consequently, there is no one right or definitive answer to the question- What are the best qualities of a good or great leader? It's like asking someone what type of pizza do you like?

It doesn't matter if you are an advocate or fan of leaderships styles like: Transformational, Self, Servant, Quiet, Team, Level 5, Transactional, Democratic, Autocratic, Visionary, etc.

Are you passionate about leadership theories such as: Great Man, Relationship, Trait, Situational, or Behavioral, etc.?

Leadership styles and theories all rely on the level of one's thinking abilities and because many leaders are not skilled thinkers, communicators, and are unable to teach others how to think and problem solve there will always be effective and ineffective leaders and leadership.

"To me organizations have developed solid pipelines to carry leaders up the mountain. What they are missing is the pumps to drive their leaders to higher levels of effectiveness. They need to instill in their leaders and managers the ability to transform performance by improving thinking. " -

from "Quiet Leadership"-David Rock

Most of us can give specific, universal, and consistent examples of poor leaders and poor leadership. One of the reasons many of us are victims of poor leaders and leadership is because of what I term:

Leadership Profiteers

Leadership Profiteers are dangerous individuals and groups that view leadership frameworks under a mindset not bound by any leadership style or theory that advocates or even pretends a pursuit of leadership excellence.

Leadership Profiteers seek to rise and embrace leadership from a position of a right to ascendancy and a position of hierarchy because of one's connections- (family or otherwise), politics, money, power, control, greed, prejudice, and biases. One only needs to look at leaders around the world and here in America to see my point. Look at some of the current or past candidates for President of the United States. One can see the characteristics of Leadership Profiteers in many of these candidates claiming to represent the ideals of a "Free and Democratic Society and Country."

School, organizational, and business leaders that are leadership profiteers use their positions to advance their resumes, income, family and friends, while positioning themselves for the next lucrative opportunity. They bring very little or lasting positive impact to the organizations, schools, or companies that employ them.

So then, how do we select authentic and passionate leaders that can think, build and bridge relationships as well as alliances with diverse groups and individuals, while also willing to invest in the best version of themselves and others?

True Leadership is an Action Verb Not a State of Being!

If change, impact, results, coalition building, and innovation are to take place at any level, those responsible for implementing these actions must not fall in love with the titles of Administrator, Leader, Ceo, Director, Superintendent, President, Coach, Teacher, Principal, etc. True Leaders must be willing to dig their hands into the pile just like everyone else they are charged with leading and directing and working just as hard.

Secondly, the traditional pools of leadership candidates must be honestly examined and those responsible for hiring these candidates must not fall victim to their own biases and a lack of willingness to think and act outside the box. Leadership biases must be addressed when there is a glaring lack of qualified diverse, minority or marginalized individuals in leadership positions. Paradoxically, one must understand leadership biases can also be of benefit to a selection of an effective or good leadership candidate as well.

Additionally, many organizations, schools, and businesses must search within their own walls more often and not outside for leadership candidates. There are individuals walking the halls who have already proven they don't mind getting their hands dirty and have been successful at any task that has been put before them.

Because of company politics, nepotism, popularity preferences, public relations concerns, and lazy search efforts, individuals that are in-house effectively performing de-facto or quasi leadership duties are not even considered. Often, the staff or other employees know who the best leaders are in an organization or company but are rarely asked for their input or suggestions.

As I have stated before, leadership is a competition. You against the best version of yourself. This means that the foundational and intellectual histories of all of us are connected or directed by one's experiences, environments and value systems of what one holds as important or insignificant.

Leaders who see leadership as an action verb use their personal histories, value systems, and experiences to build and develop a version of themselves that is self-aware and critical of their conscious and unconscious biases and how those factors can either grow or limit their leadership abilities. They then lead through their willingness to act, engage, change, and grow without fear because of a commitment to better themselves but more importantly a commitment to showing others how to compete against the best version of themselves.

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams