Below is a great article on everyday leadership. Enjoy.
Ron Finklestein
Everyday Leaders - Everyday Leadership
http://www./leadership/enewsletter/2006/SEPeveryday.aspx?pageId=1750
Leadership can be a high-profile enterprise. Media headlines cast executives and administrators into the spotlight. Managers operating in complex, global organizations are often featured in books, articles and training programs dealing with effective leadership. But leadership more often is exercised under the radar screen by everyday leaders in schools, homes and communities.
“At CCL, we define leadership in terms of tasks, rather than role or position,” says CCL’s AndrÉ Martin. “Leaders are people who, in connection with others, accomplish the tasks of setting direction, building commitment and creating alignment.”
With this in mind, a team of CCL faculty and staff wanted to better understand leaders who are underrepresented in much of the thinking and practice of leadership development.
Over a six-month period, 31 respondents completed an hour-long phone interview designed to shed light on their lives as everyday leaders. The study explored definitions of leadership, key leadership skills and current challenges. Participants also answered questions about the impact of their work and key experiences that influenced them as leaders. Other topics included most memorable books, magazines and books read, personal development strategies and role models of leadership.
The interviewees represented five groups: educators, public sector employees; professional services providers, small business owners and atypical leaders. Interviewees included teachers, a car dealership owner, medical doctors, an accountant, a judge, a mayor, a not-for-profit director, Peace Corps volunteers and stay-at-home moms, among others.
What is leadership?
When it comes to the definition of leadership, this diverse group of everyday leaders expressed similar ideas of leadership. One educator described leadership this way: “As a professor, leadership is the capacity to stimulate and effectively guide students in understanding the application and value of classes and the substance of what is being taught.” Similarly, a rabbi spoke of “inspiring people” and “guiding a decision-making process.”
“The concepts of inspiration and guidance, vision, and change were articulated in one way or another by most interviewees,” says Martin. Combining the key elements from the various interviews, one definition of leadership for everyday leaders is:
The ability to create a vision for positive change, help focus resources on right solutions, inspire and motivate others and provide opportunities for growth and learning.
What skills are needed?
CCL researchers also wanted to identify the key leadership skills that are important to everyday leaders in their fields. Skills related to interpersonal openness and building relationships were the most frequently mentioned. Commitment, demonstrated knowledge, organization skills and ability to persuade/negotiate were also in the top five.
Looking to the future, CCL also asked the everyday leaders what leadership skills they expected would be most important in the future. The top five skills for future leaders did not vary greatly from the present: interpersonal openness and building relationships remained at the top, followed by organization skills and the ability to persuade/negotiate. There was a rise in the skills of communication, delegation and setting direction, suggesting, says Martin, “that leaders will need to be even more cognizant of where they are taking people and how to help people be involved.”
Common threads.
“Even though their experiences are different, business leaders and everyday leaders are not that far apart in their leadership thinking,” says Martin. “Everyday leaders have views about leadership that are also consistent with CCL’s perspective and our experience with business leaders.”
Tasks of Leadership
CCL’s definition of an effective leader is someone who, in connection with others, is able to accomplish three key tasks of leadership:
- Setting direction is the articulation of mission, vision, values and purposes. Key questions are: Where are we going? What are we going to do? Why are we doing it?
- Building commitment involves the creation of mutual trust and accountability, including addressing questions such as: How can we stay together? How can we work better as a group? What can improve cooperation?
- Creating alignment is about finding common ground and areas of interrelated responsibility. Effective leaders ask: How can we develop a shared understanding of our situation? How can our actions be better coordinated?
