Why is leadership important in all walks of life?
If you want to unlock more of the leader within, sitting with this question could be the key to becoming more of the leader you really are.
In this blog, we will explore what leadership could really mean for you and why it is important in different roles, by questioning the different identities of leadership. Our aim is to help you reveal more of the leader you really are – even if you don’t consider yourself to be one.
What is Leadership
First, let’s look at an Oxford Dictionary definition of leadership:
“The action of leading a group of people or an organization.”
If we unpick this example, then we can see that it is:
- A verb: Leadership is an act of doing.
- Expressed as part of a group dynamic: In this definition, it is specifically about leading others. We think it’s more than this, more about this below.
- Defined in a professional context: Let’s pretend we are playing a Word Association game here… if I say “leadership” it is very likely you will then think of organizational leadership directed by a company/government. But is this the only example where leadership is important? We don’t think so…
We believe that leadership is more than this. We believe it is a dynamic word that incorporates more of you and is far greater than the limits described.
Let’s explore this further…
Leadership is a Verb
Leadership is a set of actions or put another way a set of skills. The good thing about skills is that they can be learned and nurtured.
We have written a list of some leadership skills below. This isn’t a definitive list but the point of looking at these skills is to identify the things you are already doing that make you a leader whether you identify as one or not. This is mostly because leadership can also be described as a way of being – how you navigate through your day-to-day.
List of Leadership Skills
How many of these do you possess?
- Decision-making: To look at the information presented and decide upon a direction in a timely manner.
- Perspective: To look at the bigger picture through various filters.
- Emotional Regulation: To manage your own emotions or to display suitable emotions in a given situation.
- Rapport: To engage with a multitude of people to build a relationship.
- Trust: To have trust in yourself and in others that they are capable and/or doing their best.
- Comfortable with the Unknown: To confidently make decisions without knowing the full scale of an outcome and trusting that it will be okay.
- Inspirational and Influential: To be a role model and have an impactful effect on your team and/or the people around you, for them to learn, dream and create.
- Lead by Example: To be the change you want to see, by displaying congruence between your words and actions.
- Communication: To adopt an effective way of passing on information and listening to others.
A key thing to consider is that leadership isn’t just about actions, it is also about a mindset. Often, the two are intertwined.
A leadership mindset can be present naturally within or grown with experience and can be actively nurtured like any of the other tangible skills listed above.
Leadership Can Be Singular
The way you lead yourself is arguably the most important version of leadership there is. This is because no one can live your life for you. You are the leader of yourself.
When you start to think of yourself as the leader of your life, you feel empowered and reminded that you have choice and agency.
“Self-leadership is the practice of understanding who you are, identifying your desired experiences, and intentionally guiding yourself toward them. It spans the determination of what we do, why we do it, and how we do it.” – Maike Neuhaus, Ph.D.
This type of leadership is about leading within: listening to the guidance inside of you and honoring and caring for yourself to make daily decisions (big and small) that move you forward to reach your own goals.
When you know how to lead yourself, you are also better at leading others, because you have more available within.
Why Professional Leadership Is Important
A leader within a business moves a company’s goals forward through the actions of their workforce. The focus here is on the success of the business. This might seem crude but money makes the world go round. Our livelihood and the economy depend on it.
A good leader, however, will be someone who understands that the purpose of a company is not just to be a commercial enterprise but a collective of people.
“Leadership is helping people succeed, inspiring and uniting people behind a common purpose and then being accountable.” — Paul Polman, Former CEO, Unilever
If you chunk it down:
- Business is about leadership.
- Leadership is about teams.
- Teams are about people.
It all comes down to people and the way they are managed, inspired, directed, listened to, valued, supported, the list goes on…
Why Personal Leadership Is Important
Whatever your family looks like and whatever role you play, you will probably find that you are influential in leading your family and friends.
“A parent needs to lead his or her children. A partner within a relationship will, if the relationship is to be balanced and work, have times of being the leader and other times of being led.“ — Ian McDermott
Studies also show that the type of leader you become as an adult can be determined by the type of upbringing you have had.
This is often because our parents/caregivers are our first role models. As children, we observe their actions to make sense of the world and learn how to operate within it.
However you lead, it is critical to know that we are not all born leaders – but we do have the choice to develop skills. Leadership may not be your full-time role, however, there may be a time when you are the one people are looking to for guidance and direction.
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