The role of leadership in achieving business success is indisputable. Great leaders who create great companies are “made”, not “born”. You know why? True leadership is learned; It’s Not Automatic To answer the question of whether leaders are made or born, the great theorist, Mr. Bass, posited the Bass theory of leadership of all time (1989 and 1990). He said that there are three theories of leadership.
First, the Trait Theory, which says that some personality traits can naturally lead people to assume leadership roles. Second, the theory of great events, which believes that a crisis or a major event can make a person rise to the occasion. And third, the Transformation Theory, which says that people can choose to become leaders and learn leadership skills. This third theory is the basis of this article.
In other words, he has no excuse to say that he is waiting to locate his leadership traits before he can become a leader or to wait for a crisis situation to arise before assuming the leadership role as the Big Event Theory asserts; but that you choose to become a leader by learning leadership skills as stipulated in the Theory of Transformation.
You see, we are all born with leadership potential wrapped up in us. But it is our responsibility to develop it, nurture it and bring it to life. It won’t go out alone. It requires your attention to develop and it is about you choosing to become a leader.
A philosopher once said that there are five domains of leadership: self-leadership, leading another person, leading a group, leading an organization or company, and finally, leading a nation. If he critically looks at the five domains described above, he can vividly see the progressions one undergoes to become a leader. You can’t lead others let alone lead an organization if you can’t lead yourself.
Everything your business is today and everything it will be tomorrow will be the result of your leadership status in directing the course of the business. As Warren Bennis, a leadership expert, put it, “A company with little capital can borrow money and one with a bad location can move; but a company that lacks leadership has little chance of survival.”
What is leadership? What does it mean to be a leader? And how do leaders and leadership impact businesses or organizations? Let’s start by looking at the definition of leadership. Leadership is a relationship of influence between leaders and followers who seek real change and results that reflect their shared purposes.
Leadership involves influence, it occurs between people, those people intentionally desire significant change, and the changes reflect shared purposes by leaders and followers. An important aspect of leadership is influencing others to unite around a common vision. Therefore, a leader is a visionary who influences, motivates, communicates, and energizes followers to do what they would not normally be willing to do for themselves.
The impact of leadership in building a successful business is enormous. First, leaders make things happen: they are the catalyst for business success; they challenge the status quo; they are driven by vision; they think differently. Second, leaders manage in times of change: they determine direction; they are goal setters and goal seekers; they move organizations from where they are to where they need to be. And third, leaders are revolutionaries—They face reality and mobilize the appropriate resources; they encourage others to do the same; They leave a mark that cannot be erased.
These are the Jack Welchs of the 21st century turning a dying business into a multi-million dollar business. In his quest to better define the roles leaders play in your business or organization, leadership expert John Maxwell outlines the five levels of leadership: The positional leader, the relational leader, the results-oriented leader, the development of people and finally the respected leader. The big question now is: what level of leader are you in your business?