Leadership – A Call To Serve

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it – Andrew Carnegie.

Definitions

There are many definitions of leadership. Many lines have been written attempting to capture the essence of leadership in just a few words. 

The Oxford English Dictionary define leadership as:

"The action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this."

Leadership in Wikipedia has been described as "a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task" (For example, some understand a leader simply as somebody whom people follow, or as somebody who guides or directs others, while others define leadership as "organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal".

We need now to define 'lead' in this context, which is more helpful to appreciating the breadth and depth of the word leadership. Here are the most relevant points from the dictionary:

• Be in charge or command of
• Organize and direct
• Set a process in motion
• Be a reason or motive for (others to act, change, etc)

Note that only the first point strongly implies that leadership depends on a single leader, and even this point may easily be interpreted to mean that leadership can be achieved by delegated responsibility, even through a number of levels and on a vast scale.

Note also that the last two points do not restrict leadership to the leading of an organized group of people such as a business or other provider of services/products, etc. The last two points broaden the scope of leadership to anyone, or any collective of people, who inspires or motivates other people to act in some way towards some sort of aim or task or outcome.

To do this well at any level is not simple, just as defining leadership is not simple either.

Some writers understandably make fun of poor leadership, because much poor leadership happens, especially at very high levels.

Leaders Are Server  

Most men have always been having the wrong impression that a leader should be served. But rather the duty of a leader is to serve. A leader is supposed to work tires sly for the comfort and proper direction of the subject thereby rendering a vital service to them. Many people love to take the leadership position but only very few want to serve.

Leadership call for Responsibility

Responsibility usually refers to performance of a duty or action in making something happen, or perhaps preventing something from happening. Commonly responsibility can be delegated, either in broad terms for an area of project, or in specific terms for a particular task or job element. Often responsibility requires training and support to be provided to the person responsible. Responsibility commonly transfers from person to person, or from department to department - for example when a manager takes over a nightshift, or a manager goes on holiday, or even takes a lunch-break. However, often a responsibility is delegated without proper thought and planning, so that the person charged with the duty has little chance to succeed. In this case is it right that the person 'responsible' is blamed? Well, no, but often he or she is. Where blame happens in such circumstances it is because a leader is trying to avoid accountability.

Leadership call for Accountability

Accountability is different to responsibility. Accountability equates to ultimate responsibility. A common saying that refers to ultimate responsibility is 'the buck stops here' or 'where the buck stops'.  True leadership involves accepting accountability, regardless of who is given the responsibility. Where responsibilities are delegated, which happens frequently where there is good leadership the good leader retains ultimate responsibility - accountability - for the delegated tasks/responsibilities concerned. Poor or weak leadership - which we routinely see evidenced in national and corporate governance - tends to try to delegate accountability in addition to responsibility. Good leaders may delegate lots of responsibility, but they never normally delegate accountability, nor seek to pass accountability to others, unless effectively stepping aside for someone to take over the overall job within which the responsibility lies, as in job succession or the creation of a new job role. Even then, a good leader is unlikely to relinquish ultimate accountability. A good leader accepts ultimate responsibility - accountability - for everything within their remit or the range of their job/role. We might see this instead as a good leader being prepared to take the blame for any faults arising within their full range of responsibilities, even though responsibilities may be delegated far and wide among very many people. An important point of note is that accountability should not be delegated unless the recipient (of the delegated accountability) has full authority and capability for the responsibilities concerned. Accountability is always full and absolute, whereas responsibility may be delegated according to varying degrees of authority.

Leader's purposeful

An important part of describing anything is to look at its purpose. This is especially appropriate for leadership.

In exploring leadership purpose, we should first differentiate the terms leader and leadership.

This is because we can understand leadership better when we are not distracted by traditional ideas about what a leader does, and how a leader behaves, etc.

A leader is a person who leads a particular group at a particular time.

Leadership is a much broader and 'multidimensional' concept. 

Leadership is a hugely complex system of effects which strongly influence how a group of people are organized and how they act.

The bigger the group, and situation, and environment with which the group engages, then the more complex 'Leadership' - as a system of effects - will be.

Leadership is therefore often quite separate to the notion of a single leader of a single group, situation, and time.

James Scouller describes leadership as a process. In referring to leadership as a 'process', Scouller means: "...a series of choices and actions around defining and achieving a goal..." Scouller asserts that if you see leadership as a process you will more naturally appreciate that 'leadership' and 'the leader' are not one and the same.

Leadership is a process, within which there may be different leaders acting at different times in different situations.

A leader's responsibility is to ensure that there is appropriate leadership of some sort at all times, but leadership does not always or necessarily have to be provided by the main leader. Here the 'main leader' refers to the overall ultimate leader of a given group or situation. 

Leadership purpose can be seen to operate on at least two levels: ultimate responsibility ('the buck stops here') - which may not be a direct controlling or active role, and active leadership of a group or situation at a point in time - which may be performed by the main leader or a different person delegated such responsibility. Note that this can be happening in different areas/projects/situations at the same time, where several people are actively engaged in direct leadership of a group, with very full 'executive' command, i.e., absolute responsibility for decision-making. While the ultimate /main leader retains responsibility and accountability for the entire group and wider situation. Attribute of Good leadership An interesting yet challenging (to many aspiring leaders) way to see this is that: A good leader will divert and give credit and praise to others when delegated responsibilities succeed. And where delegated responsibilities fail, the good leader will accept the blame. This is accountability. Given the deep qualities of good leadership, there is no other viable way. Corporations and governments habitually ignore this crucial principle of leadership when middle managers or departmental heads are forced to resign or are sacked after a crisis or scandal. Leaders in such situations often fail to take the blame, or to accept his/her ultimate responsibility. Watching such events play out in the national or world news offers excellent examples and lessons of the differences between responsibility and accountability, and how these concepts fit into the wider issue of proper leadership.

Leadership Quotes

Poetic quotes especially, some dating back hundreds of years, illustrate the fascination that leadership has held for academics, scholars, poets and leaders of note throughout history. They also help to define leadership in its many and various forms.

Here are some examples:

Leadership is an art that must be thought and has a spirit that must be cought”. (Kenna Amad from Rising a dynamic youth ministry.)

"Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles." (John Kotter, from Leading Change.) 

"The art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations." (James Kouzes and Barry Posner, from The Leadership Challenge.) 

"Leadership is a process that involves: setting a purpose and direction which inspires people to combine and work towards willingly; paying attention to the means, pace and quality of progress towards the aim; and upholding group unity and individual effectiveness throughout." (James Scouller, from The Three Levels of Leadership, 2011.)

… True leaders are not those intoxicated with their Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard degree but who speak the language of the people. (Chinua Achebe) 

"Never trust a lean meritocracy nor the leader who has been lean; only the lifelong big have the knack of wedding greatness with balance." (Les A Murray, from Quintets for Robert Morley - a meritocracy is a government of people selected according to merit - 'lean' in this sense means offering little substance or reward or nourishment - 'big' in this sense means big-hearted, strong and generous.)

"We were not born to sue, but to command." (William Shakespeare, from Richard II, I.i - 'sue' here is the older French-English meaning 'follow after'.)

"No-one would have doubted his ability to rule had he never been emperor." (Tacitus, from Histories, c.100AD - written of the Emperor Galba.)

"The Vice-Presidency isn't worth a pitcher of warm spit." (J N Garner.)

"Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own leadership potential." (Warren Bennis)

"And when we think we lead, we are most led." (Lord Byron, from The Two Foscari, 1821.)

"He that would govern others first should be master of himself." (Philip Massinger, from The Bondman, 1624.)

Please suggest additional leadership definitions and quotes.