I like the definition of leadership by Reverend Michael D
. Noonan at Wikipedia. It says that leadership is "ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." In my opinion, this is the essence of the concept of leadership. Think about it. Leaders create a way. They do not control. They do not command. They are not annoying. True leaders create a way, so that their subordinates have the opportunity and the willingness within them to make something extraordinary happen. True leadership is making people follow you because they want to. It is about creating and casting the vision which will send people into raptures. Creating a way also means providing people with all the possible resources to help them achieve the extraordinary.
So, leadership is not just knowledge of the subject. It is a personal trait. However, good leaders are usually made and not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Just learn how to create a way for people.
A glimpse of this can be captured through quotes and quotations on leadership. Here are few of my favourite lines:
There go the people. I must follow them for I am their leader. Alexandre Ledru-Rollin
A leader leads by example not by force. Sun Tzu
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
Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership Dee Hock
Most bosses know instinctively that their power depends more on employees compliance than on threats or sanctions. Fernanda Bartolme
"We must open the doors of opportunity. But we must also equip our people to walk through those doors." Lyndon B. Johnson
So, just learn how to create a way for people. Make sure your leadership efforts and energy are focused on creating a way for them. I do not claim that it is an easy task. You do not have to be a genius or have a superior knowledge of everything. Share your vision with people, empower them and create the environment in which they can prosper and accomplish vision. This is leadership.