...there are positions of ever increasing authority. These are NOT the same!
Leadership is embodied in every individual and is exerted at every level in every organization by every person in an organization. Everyone is a leader.
Let's look at this assertion a bit...
When all is said and done leaders simply cause movement. Yes, they do it in a variety of ways...personalities vary, situations call for different approaches, yelling is a favorite of many, command and control is often valued, empowerment is offered, and threats are made. To paraphrase a bit, some of these ways work some of the time but none of them work all of the time. And, again, all of these are simply ways by which movement is caused. The logical implication being that they are not necessarily ways by which results are produced...movement and results are different animals!
I define leadership as the activity of causing coordinated movement that produce actions that generate desired results. Therefore, when it comes to the issue of leadership development, the question needing to be addressed is really one of leadership effectiveness. Is the movement being caused effective in creating the coordination necessary to get the results we want?
Referring to leadership as a position or role that is to be occupied or taken on implies that one is or isn't a leader depending on whether they occupy or hold position or title. It is why most leadership development activities are reserved for certain people and levels in organizations. This is also why focusing on specific roles or positions for leadership development has a very limited ROI when compared to what would be possible if a broader approach were taken.
Linking leadership to roles and positions separates the activity of leadership from the holistic and legitimate being-ness of an individual. We are all always causing movement in our lives. Therefore, we are all leaders. However, most of us are likely not as effective with our leadership activities as we could be.
Linking leadership to roles and positions excludes the development of leadership effectiveness as a universally legitimate aspiration for all in an organization (and in life). It very specifically tends to limit conversations and explorations of leadership development to only the "deserving", the annoited, the hi-potential. It disempowers entire populations. De-linking leadership from roles and positions creates the possibility of tapping enormous creative potential in almost every organization on the planet.
If we all came to look at the movement we are causing in life as an explicit reflection of our leadership effectiveness how might we relate to each other, life, and the planet differently? We are, each of us individually and collectively, leading us to our future. The results we see "out there" are our results. It's not "them" in positions of authority that have control..."they" are not the leaders we need to be different.
