Leadership is a complex dynamic system that enables people to progress.

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Leadership is hard to define because much of what it entails is intangible. While the behaviours of leaders are on prominent display, sometimes only the effects of leadership are visible.

And there are many conflicting definitions for leadership. That’s one thing that makes it so hard for people to develop as leaders. Definitions have changed over time, too. Different perspectives from different times have given different emphasis on what matters.

Unfortunately, leadership definitions often conflate leaders with the activity of leadership. Both are important, but they are not the same. Learning the difference has been very important in my experience to grow as a leader.

The rest of this post gives my working definition of leadership. It’s a foundational starting point and includes:

• A definition of leadership (what it is)
• The purpose of leadership (what it does)
• The elements of leadership (but not the attributes of leaders themselves)

What is leadership

Leadership is a system that enables people to progress

Leadership is a complex dynamic system. It has elements and sub-processes that help deliver progress. But leadership is not a person or physical thing.

Leaders are an important part of the system, but they are not “leadership”.
They are important because of what they do in the leadership system.

What leadership does

The purpose of leadership is to help people achieve things that matter to them.

Without a group of people wanting to achieve something they think is important, there isn’t a need for either leadership or leaders. Leadership focuses on delivering outcomes for the group, and not just for a leader.

The four elements of leadership

The dynamic leadership system has four essential elements: people, purpose, value and trust.

These four essential elements connect and drive the system. Energy moves to and from the system elements. The system is connected to, influences and is influenced by the external environment. The elements of the system can grow or shrink, but all four must be present for the system to continue to exist.

Leadership is about People

Leadership is a service provided by leaders to others.

Leadership is about people, the roles they play and relationships with each other. It is about individuals in groups, and relationships with individuals outside of groups.

Leaders provide leadership to the followers. Followers consent to leadership by the leader. Together, they form a leader-follower group. The group may be very small (one person total) or very large.

Externals are people outside the group. Externals don’t provide or receive leadership as part of that leader-follower group. Their connection with the leader-follower group may be loose or tight. Externals belong to different leader-follower groups that interact with each other.

Leadership is about Purpose

Leader-follower groups form because of a shared purpose.

The shared purpose is something individuals in the group have in common. It provides focus and meaning for the group.

Purpose is a group’s raison d’être – a reason for existence. It is fundamental to a group, and a group will fold without shared purpose. The purpose may be enduring or temporary, and strong or weak. This influences the duration and motivation of the group. The purpose may evolve over time, and there may also be secondary purposes that matter to the group.

Leadership is about Value

Leadership delivers value. People are the beneficiaries of value delivered through leadership.

Value is the benefits and payoffs from leadership. It includes intrinsic and intangible benefits, as well as progress, solving problems, innovation, creativity and delivery of outcomes.

Leadership providing emotional and psychological value for followers, meeting their needs for certainty, safety and comfort. This value is delivered to the leader-follower group, and can also be delivered to externals.

Leadership is about Trust

Trust is an investment of confidence given by followers to the leader. Trust is freely given by followers and must be earned and maintained by leaders.

Trust manifests as consent of followers for the leader to lead.

Trust and confidence is core to the leader-follower relationship. It is reinforced with communication, acts of care, and demonstrations of commitment. Leaders maintain trust by doing three things:

1. By being predictable,

2. by managing expectations, and

3. by delivering value followers want.

Leadership is not…

We can also define leadership by what it is not. This is where conflict in definitions creates confusion and makes it harder for people to progress and develop as leaders.

Leadership is not coercive

Coercion is the opposite of consent, and the two cannot exist together.

Coercion is the use of force or threat to control or gain compliance of others. Persuasion and control are part of leader-follower relationships, but use force or threat to gain compliance is not. Coercion is opposite to addressing the needs of safety, certainty and comfort. Coercion focuses on creating unsafety, uncertainty and discomfort to gain compliance.

Groups have rules and often have explicit or implied punishments for contravention of those group rules. But the group willingly consents to the rules and consequences. They are not imposed by an individual on the group without the group’s consent. Even rules-based groups such as defence and police forces have willing consent. This is not coercion.

Leadership is not about the leader or being the boss

Leadership isn’t about telling people what to do, though that’s some managers think. It’s true that group managers and bosses have formal authority and may also be leaders. But leaders often exist in the group and supply informal leadership around to directions given by managers and bosses. Leaders have a different type of authority to managers and bosses. Leaders have authority granted by followers, not by an organisation.

Leadership is not about personal attributes

Leadership is a system, not an individual. It isn’t about charisma, gravitas, education, experience or another virtue or attribute. These things can help leaders to perform in that role, but they’re not enough on their own.

Leader attributes are extremely important for the leadership system and the value delivered to the group.

Besides shared purpose, the most important part of the leadership system are the thinking patterns and behaviours of leaders. Everything turns on how leaders engage with and enable followers to achieve progress.

Summary

The dynamic leadership system is a service provided for others to enable progress and value creation. It’s complex, and this definition is a simple model for what it is, what it does, and the elements of the leadership system. At the core of leadership is the leader-follower group, mutual trust and consent from the followers to be led. It helps deliver progress and feelings of safety, certainty and comfort. Leadership is not coercive. Leadership is not about the individual leader, though they are of vital importance to the system, and it is not about being a manager or a boss. The most important part of the leadership system are the thinking patterns and behaviours of leaders. And everything turns on how leaders engage with and enable followers to achieve progress.

That’s my definition, anyway.