What we do, how we do it and what we produce
The 33rd Leadership Weekly Note of 2023 is prompted by one of the countless inane headlines and stories that bombard us all the time.
While this one is from South Africa, these sorts of notions appear all over, in every country, whether it is in politics, business, sports or any other social collective.
No wonder there is little sense of what leadership is, and is not.
Refer the snapshot of news headlines from the past week.
‘[political party name] to elect new Gauteng leadership’
If you have completed the Alpha Programme or have been following our Leadership Weekly Notes you will know that (influential) leadership is a function of why we do something, what we do, how we do it and the nature of the outcomes we produce.
The essential logic is that a person who chooses to behave in particular ways and achieves productive outcomes, is a leader, in that moment.
So, let us be clear.
A person has the potential to lead if they are equipped and skilled to lead.
Leadership capability—like any other—does not materialise in us through some magic membrane.
Secondly, a person must choose to lead, irrespective of them being skilled to do so.
In the same way an accountant or an engineer or a pianist or a rugby player must be skilled and choose to exercise that capability, so must a person wanting to lead.
A person does NOT become a leader through dint of their office, personality, position, role or title.
Of course, a person might be a leader in the aforementioned circumstances, but they do not make someone a leader.
A leader is what a person becomes in that moment they choose to exercise their leadership capability—whoever they are.
Another way to define something is to appreciate what it is not.
In the case of leadership, this is rather easy because the common language and conceptions of it are so ill-considered that the list is endless.
For the sake of the Note, I highlight just five of the innumerable illiterate notions of leader(ship) that emerge from some of the headlines in the infographic above:
- A leadership is elected, appointed, anointed…
- A leader is elected, appointed, anointed…
- The boss, the captain, the CEO, the manager, the president—are leaders, leadership…
- There are true and [untrue] leaders, leadership…
A leader can produce good or bad or nothing, yet still be a leader(ship).
Leadership is an Apex Skill, and as such demands the greatest capabilities to think critically, choose smartly and act with productive purpose.
Leadership goes beyond an office, personality, position, role or title, and any assortment of technical skills.
We are leaders because we are equipped, and we choose to exercise leadership!
Are you?
Regards,
Colin @ Karoo
Leadership is a capability and a choice!
