What is Leadership Really About?

True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders.-R.Townsend.

When you are around great leadership, you just know it. Whether it be in business, government, or the military, it's easy to spot the great leaders from the average ones. They have energy and passion for sure, but more importantly they have a way of bringing people together with a common purpose - a purpose that is crystal clear and inspiring. In other words, great leaders unify people - not divide them. And the extraordinary ones understand that their leadership is meant to benefit others, not themselves.

In the business world, leaders do not always come in the form of CEO's, sometimes they are account managers, strategists, or creative types. Their role is unimportant to them, it is the qualities they have as people that matter, not what it says on their business card.

Leaders are not always winners, in fact some of the best are those that have failed at one point or another. These failures make them even more valuable as leaders, because they understand that the outcome of their actions won't always be defined as a success.

Leaders must always be willing to roll up their sleeves with co-workers and involve others in the pursuit of common goals. But most of all, the really great leaders have humility and compassion. Being a truly great leader isn't always about vision and courage - a real leader will not be able to motivate people if those people feel that he or she does not understand what makes them tick.

Think about the great leaders you've know in your life. Jot down those attributes that you feel made them great. I bet that things like "hard worker" and "persuasive" are low on the list of what you thought made them effective.