What Is A Leader? - By Rob Horkings

When I hear the question “What is a leader?”, my immediate response is to say, “How much time do you have?”

Let me begin by stating what leadership isn’t. Leadership is not a one- dimension quality or characteristic that can be captured in one short quip and slapped onto a bumper sticker. Leadership is not about being elected to some position or post. Leadership is not about having a fancy title and bossing people around. Leadership is not about being admired by those under you.

I’ve known too many people who have been elected to high positions, carry great titles, are admired by friends and yet have no sense of direction regarding when it comes to direction. This situation is often referred to as the Peter Principle; when someone has been promoted to a position of incompetence and finds themselves lost.

But lets get back to defining what leadership is now that we know what it isn’t.
Defining leadership is not as simple as most people would assume. And no matter how many people you ask you will invariably get different answers to the question, “What is leadership?” One thing is for certain, leadership is a multifaceted, multidimensional quality whose sum total makes up its real definition. Leadership IS the sum total of many features and qualities that make a true leader. But trying to get a few people in the room to define and agree on the qualities might be another story!

In this memorandum I’ve compile 22 key elements of a great leader. My hope is that by sharing these characteristics we become smarter and more aware of the complexity of a true leader. The sum total of these 22 key elements will give us a very good approximation of true leadership.

1. First, a leader must have a passion, a burning desire to bring
something positive about. He must internalize what has to be done and convert that passion into action. Passion comes before leadership. Leaders without passion are simply people with fancy titles and no sense of direction. When you have a passion and act on that passion, you become a leader compelled to move forward by some quantifiable desire. You are motivated into action by a calling.

Will passion alone show you how to get to where you’re going? Will passion give you have all the answers? Of course not! Are you leery or afraid of what lies around the corner? Of course you are! Which is why…

2. The second key aspect of being a great leader is the ability to accept
fear as part of the risks we take. Fear is something that comes part and parcel with everything that is unknown or new to us. A leader understands that all challenges have an element of fear that must be confronted. No matter how hesitant you may be, a leader knows that he or she cannot show fear; especially if others who are following are watching closely. Leaders learn to stare down fear and know with certainty that they can overcome a challenge if they make up their mind to do so. When you’re assigned a task or come across a new opportunity, if your excitement is tempered by fear of failure, this is understandable. True leaders amplify and focus on the excitement of the unknown while at the same time working to diminish the possibility of failure. To a leader, there is always a way, a solution to overcome any obstacles placed in their way.

3. Which is why a leader must also know when to be a cheerleader. When to
encourage others to look past their own limitations and join in on the movement towards some goal. Leaders push, cajole, excite, motivate people to be better than what they think they can be. Leaders show no fear in the face of adversity and ask you to do the same. No matter how difficult things get, leaders will not allow their people to lose hope and faith in what they’ve set out to accomplish. Leaders cheer when times are good, but most importantly, the do so when times are bad.

4. A leader is honest to himself but more so to his people. Whether
delivering good news or bad, a leader does not hesitate in either. We all want to be heroes. We all want to be the bearer of ‘good news”. But when things don’t go right, a true leader always admits and submits to the realities. They don’t lie to themselves or those they lead. Is admitting failure or difficulty in accomplishing a goal giving up? No! Leaders acknowledge reality and assess it for what it is. Leaders evade reality or pretend that bad things aren’t happening. Leaders know that in order to overcome any obstacle requires a complete understanding of the situation, no matter how dire. Too often leaders fall into trap of keeping up pretenses in order to spare others the harsh realities. Wrong! Another common trap is to believe that by being honest with others, we expose our weaknesses or inabilities. Wrong! True leaders accept responsibility for their situation and aren’t afraid of sharing their predicament with those who would follow. A leader is not insecure. Leaders can’t lie to themselves or those around them. In both cases a leader loses the respect of his followers if they ever found out they were being misled or deceived. Leaders accept challenges and aren’t hesitant about making everyone else aware of the current situation. A leader doesn’t hide or shade the truth
from others. This would be a disrespectful of the others right to know the
truth.

5. Leaders never give up. But most importantly, a leader never gives up
on you, even when you’ve given up on yourself. Leaders see only delays or temporary setbacks. Leaders pause to recalculate and figure things out.
Leaders ask, “What else can we try?” And when you’ve given up on yourself, leaders say, “Why? I haven’t!” Leaders encourage you to lean on them as they in turn are not afraid to lean on you. Leadership is a partnership between those who lead and those who follow. Each has a responsibility to each other. Notice when a person is wounded and other person lifts them up, puts the wounded persons arm around his neck, and then puts his arm around their waste and helps carry them. That’s the image we should all hold constant. Two people holding on to each other, counterbalancing each other’s burden, moving forward, slowly, but surely.

6. Get it done right! A leader knows that speed is not the sole mark of
accomplishment. Leaders know that doing it right is far superior to doing it fast. Leaders never run, they walk with purpose. Leaders do not allow others to rush their decisions that require more reflection. Leaders like to weigh options and listen to everyone’s input or feedback. A leader is not hurried or pressure by time constraints. Leaders know that things that get rushed get flushed. Leaders respect time and will work diligently to meet time schedules they have agreed to.

7. Because another aspect of a leader is commitment. Leaders who commit
to doing something, or bring about something, know that their word is their bond. A leader measures what tasks he or she will accept because they know that there is only so much time in the day and they can only do so much. Leaders know when to say yes, but more importantly, they know when to say no. Leaders who are bound by their word to a commitment, do not agree to things lightly.
Many people take on too many tasks because they’re afraid to say, “no” or are trying to do more than they can. A true leader knows how much to bite off and how much can be chewed in a given span of time. A true leader knows that it is better to say ‘no’ and have others think what they will, then to say yes and fail to deliver.

8. A leader has compassion for those who need an extra hand. Leaders know
that we are all born with varying skill sets. Each of us is equipped to do a particular job or jobs better than others. Some of us learn quicker than others while some struggle just to keep up. Leaders don’t view this as a weakness, but see it as issue that has to be calculated and readjusted. If a person isn’t
good at one thing, a leader searches to find what that person can excel at. As
the saying goes, no one stands taller then when they stoop down to help someone.
All of us in life will, at one time or another, need some help, someone to lend us a hand. Compassion is about understanding and knowing that we all need help once in a while. This very fact is what keeps great leaders humble and connected to those they lead.

9. Leaders are too busy doing, while others are too busy talking. Leaders
have a way of filtering out good signals from the rest of the noise in the environment. Like a radio, a leader is tuned into the pleasant channels along the frequency continuum that provide useful information and not idle gossip or chatter. Leaders avoid the noise between the channels. Leaders know that they must tune into things that have to be done and ignore the noise of inactivity that surrounds them. Too often people are complaining about the reasons they can’t do something, while great leaders are out there proving them wrong.

10. Every leader must have clarity of vision. They see the outcome in their
mind before it actually happens. They have an internal gyroscope that keeps them on course as they navigate the difficulties and challenges along the way.
Leaders must figured out the who, what, when, where, why and most important, how they are going to achieve their goals. Every vision with clarity is propelled by a powerful reason for wanting to do it. Someone once said, “If you have a big enough WHY, you will always find a HOW to getting it done. The ‘why’ is the passion, the ‘how’ is a plan borne of passion.

11. Leaders plan to succeed. They literally have a ‘plan’ for succeeding.
Losers feel planning is too cumbersome and bypass it altogether. Is it no surprise then that research has shown that individuals who take the time to write down their goals, link the actions required to achieve those goals are the most successful? We’ve all heard the saying, “fail to plan, plan to fail”.
Vision without a plan is only a dream that will remain just that, a dream. A friend of mine told me a long time ago, “There is no such thing as a wrong decision, you just have to make it work.” I’ve always liked the saying because we don’t always have the perfect plan. We don’t always make optimal decisions.
But we do have a choice in the matter: adjust the plan as you go or be defeated by misfortune. Leaders choose to take corrective action and not dwell on mistakes. Remember, a plan is a tentative strategy waiting for reality to provide the necessary feedback to adjust it once again. The only thing guaranteed in a plan is that it will change.

12. Having a vision and a plan isn’t enough if you want to be a great leader.
Leaders must learn how to communicate that vision with ease, clarity and conviction. Leaders know how to explain the reasons behind what they want to achieve or the motive driving them forward. Leaders know how to explain to others why things must be done or accomplished. Leaders know how to make others understand that the outcome will benefit all, not just the leader. By explaining the vision, leaders create an invisible bond that allows them to move forward together with strength in numbers. Above all, remember this, it is not the responsibility of others to listen to you (the leader), it is your responsibility as a leader to get others to listen to you! It is the leader’s responsibility to make others understand the goal.

13. Explaining or communicating a vision requires a leader to think backwards.
By that I mean, they must see the end goal in their mind’s eye and begin to work backwards on constructing the necessary steps to achieve their goal. In business, when competitors want to know how you built a certain product, they first acquire the product and then take it apart to see how it was put together.
This is called reverse engineering. A leader is a visionary architect of destiny; constructing a bridge between the vision and the necessary elements to get there. Leader must reverse engineer the goal: see the goal, visualize it, give it texture and then communicate it how to achieve it. Only then can a leader begin to construct a plan on how to get ‘there’.

14. Leaders must be dependent! In order to achieve any level success, leaders
must depend on those who are around them. Leaders know the particular shapes of the personnel pegs who surround them. They know their people and where they fit best in bringing about a goal, idea or event to fruition. Leaders have to know people better than they know themselves. They must put people, not in a position to fail, but to succeed. Like the coach of any sport’s team, a leader’s job is to figure out who is best for what position. A leader doesn’t cow-tow to favoritism, nepotism, ageism, racism, or any other “ism”. Leaders choose people based on their skills and their skills alone. Leaders know that violating this principle (i.e., using ‘isms’) will inevitably bring about failure. Leaders who surround themselves with people for the wrong reasons, will always fail no matter the season.

15. Leaders have an annoying habit of never being satisfied! A leader always
asks, “How can I…? How do I…? What do I need to…? What else needs to be done in order to…?” A leader never indulges in the “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve tirade or the “Won’t, Can’t, shouldn’t” mind set. Leaders look forward and look beyond limitations. Never satisfied, leaders always ask that visionary question, “What if…?”

16. Leaders have an acute affinity for The Law of Averages. With every ‘What
if...?’ there are uncertainties. And Leaders know that failure is part of the game. Failure to them is a successful way of eliminating options that don’t work. They know that failure brings them that much closer to understanding how to succeed. Babe Ruth the baseball icon is remembered as a great home run king.
But hardly anyone remembers how abysmal his strikeout record is. Leaders know that people, over the course of time, will judge you not on how many times you missed, but how many successes you’ve had. Leaders continue to keep swinging because eventually The Law of Averages kicks in. Like in baseball and in life, if you stand there long enough and swing often enough you’re bound to hit failure out of the park. Leaders never stop swinging, they just keep “lettin’er rip”.

17. With strikeouts or failures comes criticism. A leader shoulders criticism
and shields it from his people. Like water off a duck’s back, leaders accept the ultimate responsibility for an action or outcome and then proceed to let it roll off of them. Leaders know that there are many people waiting to see them fail. A leader’s responsibility to himself and to those around him is to insulate themselves from the negativity that is borne of criticism. Leaders know that those who criticize are usually those who have never accomplished anything great. Leaders know that those who have never failed have never taken
risks. Leaders know that criticism carries an element of envy. They know that
others want to see them fail because it’ll make them feel better to criticize.
Those who never take risk love to sit back in the cheap seats jeering.
Criticism will always be thrown your way, a good leader learns to shrug it off and move on.

18. Good leaders never take credit; they give it. When good things happen a
great leader gives the credit to others; never personally accepting the accolades. Leaders know that it takes a group to make something come about and he takes pride in creating a situation that made it possible. Leaders don’t enjoy the credit when a goal has been achieved. What they do enjoy is watching and listening as the team relishes every small victory along the way. Leaders know that giving credit is much more satisfying to the soul than accepting it.
Leaders know that the greatest joy in leading is seeing those people around them surprise themselves when they exceed their own self-imposed limitations.
Leaders are success voyeurs. There excitement comes from watching people grow and pushing beyond what they once believed impossible.

19. The essence of time is never lost on leader. Leaders realize that our
most precious commodity is time. Leaders who have things to do are not appreciative of any event or instance that robs them of their time to get things done. Leaders are also respectful and mindful of the other person’s time. For instance, a leader will not ask for a meeting without having something of value to transmit. Leaders show up on time to their commitments, whether it’s an interview, meeting or social engagement. Leaders respect timeframes and will work diligently to conform to them. Leaders know that failing to meet timetables and keeping commitments would undermine their credibility in the long run.

20. A leader knows when to take council and listen to others who may have
different perspectives to offer. Leaders know that learning is a never-ending process where each day can bring some new insight. Great leaders work to protect themselves from developing egocentric blind spots.

21. Leaders know who they are and more importantly their limitations. Success
for them is about exploiting their strengths and compensating for their weakness with good people. As Clint Eastwood said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”
Being keenly aware of your limitations allows you to take action to improve yourself or seek out people who have those talents and utilize them. There is no shame in not knowing, only in pretending to know and misleading others.

22. Lastly, a leader is a Sentinel. A Sentinel was a person who manned the outposts of a village or small town protecting it from invaders. In today’s rapidly changing market, a Sentinel is needed to man the outpost of change;
making groups aware of new things and coming trends. In this dynamic market
economy a leader has to learn how to anticipate change. Learning to anticipate comes from experience, from failures and successes alike. The ultimate quality of a leader is the ability to lead and protect his group. A leader anticipates what lies ahead based on what he or she has seen in the past. Leaders know that they have been entrusted with a great responsibility; leadership.

To Your Success,

Rob Horkings