I’ve been noticing that the topic of leadership has been trending a lot nowadays. It made me wonder about several things, but before my mind started filling up with a million questions. I wanted to know what a leader is, or rather what is leadership, and what makes a good leader? Are some people born to be leaders or do we all, in some capacity have a calling to be a leader. (I think we do.)
I’ve heard that leadership “is the capacity to influence others through inspiration, generated by a passion, motivated by a vision, birthed by a conviction, produced by a purpose.” Of course Wikipedia has a little something to say about it. I believe that we determine leaders on different judging scales. There are many different levels of leadership. Some leaders are placed in a position of authority while others earn their right to be there. In my opinion, a true leader earns their respect and influence.
I believe our first encounter with leadership is within our very own family units. I often hear of Mompreneurs stay at home moms who are the CEO’s CFO’s etc. of their family brand taking their gifts and talents to another level. I have also heard that men want to feel that they are the king of their own castle after slaving away in corporate America under another man’s leadership. We are then exposed to people of power as we get socialized in school, peers groups, religious affiliations, etc. So, where do some of us go astray? Why do we decide we’d rather settle in a life that is dictated completely by another’s whims? Why do we find ourselves in positions to do only as we’re told simply to fulfill another person’s vision whether or not it aligns with our values and ways of thinking?
Also, if we are to simply be followers, who are we choosing to follow and why? What makes a good leader?
Well, being the kind of woman that I am, I usually learn what I like by getting a feel for what I don’t like, that’s just how I operate. I feel more confident in saying that a good leader is a leader who doesn’t display the traits of a bad leader.
My final thoughts wondered over to why leadership is important. Is it because when times are hard and morale is low people desire someone to tell them what to do? Are we socialized into wanting others to direct our lives? Personally, I think the world would be a scary place without good leadership, what about you?