In order to answer the question we need to revisit a definition of both leader and leadership that I've mentioned in previous postings. Simply, a leader is someone who causes movement in a system. By definition, this suggests that everyone is a leader because it is literally impossible not to cause some movement when I enter any system. This is important to understand because this definition moves one away from any questioning of "am I a leader?" to the question of "am I effective as a leader?" The activity of leadership is the answer to this question. Leadership effectiveness is about creating coordinated movement that produces the action required to get the result I want. The focus on creating coordinated movement is what makes leadership transformational.
Creating or causing coordinated movement in and with others is a transformational process. It is transformational because it requires of me and of the others a continual reassessment of what is working and what is not working. Transformation is about change - sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatic. It occurs when there is continual reassessment of progress within the context of is it working/not working. That is the magic of the process. Movement stops when the assessment context is one of right/wrong. These are polar opposite positions that invite conflict, rigidity and stagnation. When one party insists on being right there is little room for coordinated movement. By simply assessing within the context of is this working/not working I put myself in the position to lead a change - to transform - myself, the environment, the culture, and just possibly the planet.
