When talking to others (including some clients), these are some of their perceptions about leadership:

1. Leadership is about telling others what to do
2. Leadership is about telling others how do do it
3. Leaders are born, not made
4. Leaders are those who are promoted to the right position in an organization or community
5. Leaders are always extroverts
6. Leaders get the work done at all costs to themselves and others
7. Leaders have all of the answers
8. Leaders are always confident
9. Those who are technically most competent should be leaders
10. Leaders can and should always have their transgressions forgiven

This is what I’ve learned about leadership and those perceptions:

1. Leadership is about telling others what to do when it is appropriate to do so. Mostly, great leadership is facilitating and developing others to a point that they can figure out what needs to be done on their own.
2. Amazing leaders trust that their followers know the “how” to get things done. If the followers consistently don’t know the “how”, other tactics should be considered: training, coaching, discipline, etc.
3. Leaders may have an intrinsic desire to lead, but not everyone is a good leader without some learning – through mistakes, experience, development or a mentor. It takes a great human to learn from mistakes. Great humans can make great leaders.
4. Leaders can be found anywhere in an organization or community. If you look around you, you may find them volunteering their time to a nonprofit, mentoring someone or even quietly expressing great ideas and influencing others at work or in a community.
5. Although many of the most visible leaders are likely extroverts (ala Jack Welch!), some of the best leaders are not. Introverts must function in an extroverted environment and are often visible and appearing to be extroverted. I find some of the most amazing leaders are introverts with a quiet and introspective aspect to their work.
6. The most wonderful leaders are dedicated servants – but they also understand the importance of personal balance to effective leadership. They also understand the importance of wholesome relationships, and are often undertanding and empathetic towards others.
7. Sometimes we’d like to believe that leaders know all of the answers; it makes us feel safe. The best leaders, however, are willing to forge ahead even in uncertainty. And they are willing to admit that they count on the people around them to help them find the answers.
8. Just like everyone else, leaders lose confidence. Most don’t let it show, but if you peak behind the curtain, you may find uncertainty. I believe uncertainty to be a powerful leadership tool that may open a leader up to being curious and seeking new ways to do things.
9. Sometimes, technical knowledge is very important to leadership. But the best leaders are also those who are great at communication and relationships – because having technical knowledge doesn’t assure that the work will get done. Great relationships can.
10. Should we always forgive transgressions in our leaders? They are human, and make mistakes. However, some leaders abuse their power to feed their hungers. We should always forgive another human – but when abuse of power goes beyond the boundaries of morality in a great way, we need to question whether this leader deserves our followership.