Читать книгу The EQ Leader - Stein Steven J. - Страница 13

There are many different definitions of leadership that have been documented in the scientific literature as well as in popular writings. And many of them are very good. However, for the purpose of this book, I will define leadership as:

Behaviors used in any situation where you influence the thoughts, behaviors, or feelings of one or more people.

I see leadership not only based on skills, abilities, and actions, but as situational as well. Today, I am the leader and CEO of a company that employs about 160 people. This role carries a lot of responsibilities, weight, and prestige. However, once I get home, my responsibilities differ greatly. For example, my wife will order me to take out the garbage. She'll then give me several other tasks to do that include going through the mail, washing the dishes, and so on. Unlike being the queen or king, most leaders today are not 24/7 leaders. I participate in a number of groups for CEOs, and the size of their organizations can vary from 5 people to 500. I know very few, if any, leaders today who rule their kingdoms night and day.

The next important aspect for me is the concept of influence. For most of today's leaders, it's all about influence. We no longer live in a command and control society, whether in the workplace or at home. You can give orders, but that doesn't mean you will get the obedience of yesterday. Also, many people work in cross-functional teams where there is no designated leader per se. In order to be successful in leading others where you have no or limited authority over them you will have to be able to influence their behavior.

Today's leaders don't just guide behavior. If you truly want to be successful, you have to change minds and hearts. As the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.” People today want to be inspired into action. You have to make them want to do what needs to be done.

Finally, how many followers does it take for a leader to be a leader? This almost sounds like the old light bulb joke. Well, in this definition you're a leader even if you only have one follower. You can be a leader if you can convince your partner to do their chores, get your child to do her homework, convince a friend to see the movie you want to see, or even convince your manager to let you take charge of the project. Many of the skills used to influence one person can, when used appropriately, be used to influence dozens, or even hundreds of people. One politician I know, started her career at a local level, convincing enough people, one at a time, to support the installation of a crosswalk at a busy intersection. From there, she went on to win a local election. After that she was elected at a regional (provincial) level. She eventually went on to be a cabinet minister with a major government portfolio, overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars. She was able to leverage her interpersonal skills from one-on-one to one-to-many.