Sometimes leaders are asked when a person is overlooked or not selected for a leadership position, “Why don’t you let me lead?”  This is a cringeworthy statement.  Leadership is earned, never given.
Allow me to elaborate on definitions.  Leadership is influence, not position.  Positions can be assigned/given.  Influence is earned by effectively serving others.
Your presence, communication skills, sense of authority and expertise allow you to assume the mantle of leadership.  Allow me to elaborate.
  • Presence – Leadership happens amongst the people and not in the corner office or green room.  Servant leadership is your brand.  You are the first to arrive and the last to leave.  You both weep and celebrate with your team.
  • Communication Skills – There comes a time in every leader’s tenure when they must stand up and say, “This is where we are going.  Follow me!”  Therefore, effective communication skills are a must.  For more on this topic, read 7 Steps To Crafting A Motivational Speech Which Changes Lives.
  • Sense of Authority – There is a sense of gravitas to a leader worth following.  We get the word “gravity” from “gravitas.”  There is weight to what the leader says.  When the leader speaks, you listen because you know they know what they are talking about.
  • Expertise – Effective leadership knows what it is doing.  People will not follow a leader who does not know where they are going or how to get there even if they do.  An incompetent leader is a short-term positional leader.  Click 10 Ways To Tell If You Or Someone Else Is Truly An Expert At Something to learn more.
Leadership is not an announcement or a position.  It is a direction.
So when someone wonders why they were passed over for leadership opportunities, talk to them about their presence, communication skills, sense of authority, and expertise.  And then develop a plan to help them improve.

The Top 75 Leadership Quotes From 2021 Part 2 is my latest ebook.  For many entering a post-pandemic environment, leadership looks completely different than the pre-pandemic world.  People are more broken now. They are more uncertain. Fear and anxiousness are unwelcome constant companions. Cultures are more unhealthy. Relationships are more dysfunctional.  Hope seems to be in short supply.  Every day seems to bring a new hacking, natural disaster, or unexpected calamity.

Therefore, the fundamentals of leadership are more important than ever. The quotes in this book deal with the basics of leadership.  If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, click HERE or on the image provided to download this FREE resource.  The lessons learned from last year, if applied, will sustain you for years to come.

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