The art of leadership is sought by virtually everyone. It is claimed by many, defined by a few, and exercised by the unheralded, depending on the source you use. In fact, we know a lot about leadership; it is the application of leadership that creates confusion for most.
In spite of all the leadership texts, containing a veritable plethora of theories about leadership (each of which is THE KEY), leadership remains a very individual concept, exercised in many diverse yet successful ways. Indeed, successful application always results in leadership. Unsuccessful application is invariably counter-productive. So, is this another theory? No, but I will share with you some of my observations about where to look for leadership. Its my belief that although we may not be able to define it very precisely, we can recognize it when we see it.
We know that there are people called formal leaders and informal leaders in some of the literature. I am not going to talk about those formal leaders, because they are by definition occupying positions of authority (i.e., a supervisory position) and that is their sole claim to leadership. Informal leaders, on the other hand, exercise...