Thoughts on Leadership

I’ve had a few thoughts about leadership lately and wanted to post them somewhere. They don’t make a coherent single article, but they all pull on similar threads.

People are germane to leadership

I don’t know about you but my place of employment has begun to start using the phrase “people leaders”, when referencing leadership that… lead people. I hate this term, and not just because it sounds like a term concoted by a focus group of MBA professors. It makes a mockery of the term leader. By specifying “people leader”, you are implying that one could lead something other than people. But that isn’t the case. People, real humans, are germane to leadership.

Leaders work to take a vision and inspire, guide and show others how to accomplish that vision. If you have no one to inspire, or guide, then you are not leading.

Managers, on the other hand, can manage non-human entities. Managers maintain and manage systems, processes and organizations. This isn’t to denigrate managers, we need them. I want people making sure our infrastructure isn’t falling apart, and that our processes are efficient. But it is important to not confuse the terms.

So please. Stop it with the “People Leaders”. They’re just leaders.

Morality and Leadership

Morality is essential to good leadership. I don’t think that is a particularly revolutionary statement. Ethics courses are required at every Business College. However, I’m speaking more than standard “don’t take bribes” and “be honest in marketing”. Those sorts of rules apply to everyone, regardless of being a leader or not. However, leadership comes with responsibilities and obligations beyond those held by all people.

For example, when you’re a leader, you are responsible to defend those in your charge, ahead of your own interests. Sometimes you will be faced with a situation where those come in conflict. And when that happens it requires moral discipline to do the right thing.