Defining Leadership is Like Defining Love..You just can't...

Leadership has many forms and faces



Genghis Khan was a leader and considered great by some. Hitler was a leader too; however I’m not aware of anyone who considers him to have been a great one. Something these two leaders have in common though, is their legacy. Infamy and brutality pretty much sums it up.



Some leaders follow the iron fist philosophy, leading by way of fear. If any of you have ever worked for a classically trained French chef, you might understand this.

Others prefer to teach, motivate and then throw you out of the nest and hope you succeed.

So how does one define great leadership?

Too often, in my opinion, great leaders are also great babysitters. Finger in every pie, micro-managing every detail but not really developing the people under them. Does that make them poor leaders? Not necessarily.

I remember working for a restaurant proprietor who ran a very tight ship. Great numbers, great staff, immaculate restaurant, and the whole nine yards. You would think with such a great leader, just about anybody could walk in there and run the joint. This was not the case. He moved on to another restaurant, and the new proprietor who took over was very talented with many years of experience....but he fell flat on his face and only lasted a few months before quitting.

Why? Because his management style was completely different than the previous proprietor. The staff had gotten used to being babysat all the time and they were never developed to think for themselves. Well, Mister New Guy was a hands off operator who let people make mistakes and learn from them and grow. He simply could not adjust to what he had inherited.

If you surveyed the staff, virtually all of them would want the old leader back because they liked his management style and enjoyed working for him, but they didn't take to the new manager very well.

Now here's the irony. I knew both of them for many years and had worked with both. They were both very good leaders and operators, but there was one aspect that had not been considered for the replacement. Inheriting an existing cultural environment rather than creating your own from scratch. It's a lot like a new coach and an existing football team. You have to work with what you have, plain and simple. Think of Jon Gruden versus Tony Dungy. Both are Super Bowl winning coaches with dramatically different leadership styles. Gruden yells, screams, stomps around and throws things. I don't think Dungy has ever raised his voice beyond a whisper.

So, back to the question; How to define great leadership? I don't think you can. Sure, it's easy to reference successes and stories of overcoming adversity, but actually defining it in print is virtually impossible, again, IMHO.

I've always heard that great leaders are successful because they surround themselves with great people. If that's the case, why does the leader get all the credit for success and all the blame for failure? Is a great leader just a face and a figurehead..and a lucky person? Or is there more to it than that?

What about genetics? Do great leaders give birth to more great leaders? I guess we could use the Bush family as an example here. Was Bush senior a great president? Is Bush junior a good leader? Not that I want to get into politics, but is it fair to blame all the worlds woes on one man? Did he inherit this mess or create it from scratch? There is no single correct answer. There is something about 'Dubya' that I've always admired...what you see is what you get and when he makes a decision, you know he's going to stick with it. How many other presidents in our lifetime can you say that about?

So, is Bush a good leader or a bad leader? You won't find that answer here because the question is impossible to answer.

Great leadership can only be explained with references and anecdotes, but not defined with precision, so if you're looking for the definition, you won't find it here, or anywhere else for that matter. You just know it when you see it.

So quit reading this crap and go back to work!