For much of my working life I have filled the role of a coach, but not a sport coach. My role has been to get athletes to do what they do not necessarily intrinsically want to do: strength train and condition in the off-season. This requires certain coaching skills to help the individual find their personal purpose.
In that position you have only as much “power” as the sport coach passes along to you. For example, if a player does not work hard but still gets to play this could present a greater motivational challenge. On the other hand, if I knew the coach would not play an athlete for poor performance in the weight room then I had more “tools” to use with the athlete.
Maybe you are in a position where you have little power. Does that mean you are not a leader? On the other hand, maybe you run the company, department, team, etc. Does that mean you are a leader? When I googled the definition of leadership it said 1. the action of leading a group of people or an organization or 2. the state or position of being a leader.1 These are not very helpful definitions to know if you are a leader. At the end of the synonym list was one word which didn’t relate to power, supremacy, control, etc. . . . INFLUENCE.
Leadership expert John Maxwell regularly states “leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”2 Look at the following list and decide if you are a leader:
- You negotiate with people to help them reach a desired goal. (Hmmm, my wife does this constantly at meal time with our children.)
- You try and persuade people to go somewhere you want to go. (That sounds like what I do when I want to eat at a specific restaurant.)
- You can perform certain skills in a manner that others seek out your help. Maybe you can build with wood and your friends seek you out for help or you are a good cook or have a knack for certain business skills such as marketing.
- When you are in a group and share your thoughts, people quiet down and listen.
- People seek out your advice when they have important decisions to make.
- People are drawn to you because you make good choices and have great character.
Maybe you look at that list, which is not exhaustive, and think “I don’t meet all those criteria so I am not a leader.” That is simply not true. A leader is a person who influences another in some manner. If you are a parent of one child, have one client, are in a relationship with any person you have the ability to influence and therefore the opportunity to lead.
What will you do with this opportunity? Do you need to grow as a leader? Pick one of the above areas and ask how can I grow in this area and add value to those around me? Start there and you are on the way to becoming a better leader. Leaders are learners. Keep learning, keep growing and see what great dreams you can fulfill.
- https://www.google.com/#q=leadership+definition
- Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.
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