The Most Important Trait of Great Leaders
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I’ve worked with many great leaders in my career, and some of them were even managers. We often conflate management with leadership, but they are not the same. In fact, they are quite different. Regardless of the source, leadership is a force multiplier for any team. With great leadership, 1 + 1 = 3 or 5 or 10. Without it, 1 + 1 often equals 1.
So, what is leadership? While the definition is simple, understanding it, internalizing it, well, that’s gonna take a bit.
Imagine you and I go hiking to see a waterfall. After a pleasant drive, we get to the trail head. “Follow me,” I say, and we’re off. We take a right and a left and go off trail a bit. No waterfall. We backtrack and start over. At some point, you’re wondering if I even know the location of this mythical falling water. In fact, I have no idea if it exists. I think it’s there. I’ve heard about it, but at best, I have vague directions to find it. You’ve followed me, but, unfortunately for you, I wasn’t a leader.
Take a moment to think about the story above? What was I missing? What would a leader have done differently? Once you’re done, let’s better understand what a leader is by understanding what a leader is not. We’ll start with defining…
