What is Leadership and Why is it Such a Hot Topic on LinkedIn (Part 1 of 2)?

Definition

What is Leadership?

Leadership is the position or office of a leader and the capacity or ability to lead. Leadership can be leading people, either directly or indirectly. Leadership can be leading things, processes, procedures, meetings, events, etc.

My Experience

Leadership has meant many different things to me throughout my life and career.

Early career, it seemed very distant and complicated. I saw leaders as authoritative and powerful. I saw their work as complex and difficult. Many times, when I met leaders for the first time, I was nervous and worried I would say something wrong.

That changed drastically as I got more experience. When I learned what skills and abilities I possessed, I grew my confidence in work and speaking with leaders. My first few months into my career – my first real job, I realized I was a quick learner and a decent teacher. I mastered my job faster than anyone on my team and speedily started teaching others how to master their job. This energized me and I really enjoyed giving back and lifting others. When I taught them a new trick and saw their ‘aha’ moment – that planted seeds that would later help me realized that I love leadership.

About the last 5 years, I really started dedicating my focus to learning everything I could about leadership. I did this for a few reasons:

1. I wanted to help others reach their potential and came to the realization that great leaders are great teachers.
2. I became intrigued by the different leadership styles and methods after I had experienced so many different ones over the years.
3. I experienced the power of great leadership and mentorship from others.

What I think of leadership now – Leaders are people just like everyone else. They struggle, they have good and bad days, they are not perfect and don’t promise to be, they have different motives and values, they have different styles and methods.

One deep truth stands out to me – When leaders fall short, it’s magnified 100 times more than people who are not in a position of leadership.

Which is why, I want to be the best possible leader I can be. I don’t want to fall short when the people around me deserve the best. I continuously work on growing my skills, my perceptions, my knowledge, my abilities, and in every way – show up for the people around me in an authentic and positive way – so I can make the most positive impact on their lives as possible.

Why is Leadership such a hot topic – Especially on LinkedIn?

I think there are a lot of reasons for this, the first few that come to mind are:

1. A lot of people what to become leaders – it is the natural career trajectory for many.
2. Leaders are always in the spotlight and therefore the topic is.
3. People crave great leadership and aren’t finding enough of it.
4. Leadership development is a continuous and difficult process – so it’s always top of mind.
5. Leadership is a top skill that most people want to develop.

There’s so much to unpack just in this short list. I’ll explore each of them in greater detail in our next article.

Update: Here’s a link to the closing article – Part 2 of 2.

Closing

If you follow me on LinkedIn, you may have noticed that I love quotes that make me think. The first one is my favorite leadership quote because everyone is a leader. We are all called to lead others in one way or another. Don’t take that responsibility lightly.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

— John Quincy Adams

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Author Biography

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