Seems everyone has his or her own definition of leadership, so who is right? Since you are reading this I believe you have the desire to learn more about leadership. So the question becomes, with most everyone taking a different view on defining leadership, how do you define it? Reading and studying my book will serve as a good start. I also highly recommend finding a mentor to help guide you along the way. When I found John C. Maxwell, I found my why!
My good friend and mentor, John C. Maxwell says, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”
Do you agree?
You see, I think we make leadership much more difficult than it needs to be. I personally believe that the above quotes are all correct, but none of them have fully defined the art of leadership. My experience tells me we all define leadership differently, based on our unique style and personality.
There is no such thing as a natural born leader.”
Leaders are educated and developed. My hope is that this exploration of the differences between bosses and leaders will add value to you and help you to turn your employees into followers.
The Power Of Perseverance
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. ~ Newt Gingrich
When it comes to the topic of leadership, I don’t think there is a better place to start than the topic of perseverance. I discovered at an early age that if you want to become successful in life, more importantly significant, you need to be able to persevere.
Have you ever set a goal you knew would not be easy to reach, would require effort, continuous commitment, even doing something you have never done before? Well I have, and most of the time it takes a lot more work than I had originally planned. The one word that describes the difference in reaching the mark – perseverance.
We identify something that we want, figure out a path to get there, start the process and then when the going gets tough, we take another look at the goal and decide that maybe it’s not worth the struggle to achieve it. As a professional coach, I have heard this story time and time again over the last seven years.
During discussions with clients, I have found it interesting how much I learn from just the words being used. Bosses talk about the employees. Leaders talk about their people. Bosses are on the management team. Leaders are on the leadership team. Some of you may think this is no more than using different words to say the same thing. Ask your “employees” what they think. Are you valuing your people or only the work they are doing?
There is a big difference!”
The generally accepted thought has been if you work harder and faster you will get more done. I won’t suggest this is an inaccurate statement, but I will ask you to consider whether or not this is sustainable and will this really produce the results for which you are looking.
