April 23, 2011

Leadership is Easy as 1-2-3

“Leadership” is one of those words we all hear again and again.  Books are written about it.  Courses are taught on it.  There are institutes dedicated to the study of leadership.  It all sounds very complicated.

But what is “leadership” really?

The answer is incredibly, mind-bogglingly simple.  Leadership is:

  1. Having an idea
  2. Involving others
  3. Taking action

That’s it.  No, really — that’s it.

Let’s look at each step.

Having an Idea
Each of us has ideas all the time.  An idea could be as simple as “Let’s play music and exercise after lunch every day to wake people up and get energy flowing.”

Involving Others
Talk to others about your idea.  Share a vision of what could be.  Get buy-in for your idea of the future.  “Hey guys — you know how everyone’s sleepy after lunch?  I have an idea to give us more energy, and it’s fun!”

Taking Action
Ideas are worthless unless we take action and bring our vision into the world.  After you involve others and get them excited about the idea, find your music and take action!

Yep, playing music and exercising after lunch is a real example of leadership from a leader in my company.  She made it happen.

Click here to view a short preso on leadership and vision.

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