vol. XVII no. 2

				Page 2 Page 1 2 3 4 5 HOW DO YOU DEFINE LEADERSHIP? KAISER: For me, leadership is all about how you motivate and inspire people to be the best that they can be. WAGNER: It's just as important to look at what leadership is not. Leadership is neither authoritarian nor coercive; rather, it is communicative. It fosters a conversation between follower and leader, and it seeks to improve the lives of the followers. CAMPANA: I think the definition of leadership is the ability to motivate, inspire and help people work towards a common objective or vision. RUF: Leadership is the ability to create followers. To me, that's the defining point. HARDING: I agree a key quality in leadership is the ability to inspire. Your job is to inspire those who follow you to take risks they might not otherwise take in order to reach their potential. BOYER: I'd add that you have to have the right tools. I believe the leader sets the vision, but the leader also needs to provide the tools to achieve those goals and objectives. GRANT: I'd add another point — that good leaders are good followers and they should act with the heart of a servant. To be a great leader, you need to know how to be a great follower. HOW IMPORTANT IS VISION TO A LEADER? KAISER: I use a slightly different word — "aspiration." I think an aspirational goal is incredibly important to drive alignment within an organization. People need to know which way the organization is going so they can make individual decisions that are in line with that direction. The equivalent is "California or bust." When the wagon trains were going across the U.S., the riders knew they didn't stop until they got to California. So if you can define your long-term aspiration, then people will have broad guidance about a direction to follow. GRANT: The leader also needs to facilitate the vision. It's one thing to say we want to go to California, but the leader has to facilitate the execution so the followers get there. WAGNER: Leadership is a shared set of goals and objectives that both the follower and the leader hold. The process of leadership is a constant give and take, a flow and counterflow, a test in resistance between the followers and the leader. CAMPANA: There's another component to developing the vision: an understanding of the nature of the business you're in. A vision can't happen in a vacuum. It has to be based on a clear understanding of the markets and your capabilities. In my organization, for example, most of the senior management have come up from within the organization. That carries a lot of weight in building a credible vision. Previous Page | Top | Next Page

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