Understanding True Leadership: Beyond Rank and Authority (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Leadership is, perhaps, one of the most misunderstood subjects in business. Leadership has nothing to do with rank. I know many people who sit at the highest levels of an organization, who are not leaders. We do as they tell us because they have authority over us, but we do not trust them and we do not follow them. I also know people at low levels of organizations that have no formal authority, but they've made a choice, the choice to look after the person to the left of them, the choice to look after the person to the right of them, and we would trust them and follow them anywhere. Leadership is the awesome responsibility to see those around us rise. You, every one of us, can choose to be the leader we wish we had. We lead our teams and we can lead our clients when we decide that we will do everything in our power to see them rise, to see them achieve their ambitions and their dreams. And this is what servant leadership means. I serve your dream rather than you serve my bottom line. And it's totally fine to have financial goals, it's totally fine to have metrics, because that becomes the proof of value that somebody wants to give you their money because they believe in you. It is proof positive. But the best leaders I know are students of leadership. There's no such thing as an expert leader, it doesn't exist. Like there's no such thing as an expert parent, it doesn't exist, right? We are students of leadership. And even the most senior leaders constantly are reading books, reading articles, watching talks, having conversations all the time about leadership. They're always in learning mode. And I think for anyone who wants to be a leader, you have to choose to be a student of the subject, like anything. If you want to be good at something, you have to study it. And the most ignored characteristic of leadership, you know, we talk about vision and charisma. Yes, these are important, but I've known some wonderful leaders who don't have huge world-changing vision. I've known some wonderful leaders that are quiet and sit in the corner, but they all have courage. The courage to advance a vision, the courage to ignore the short-term ups and downs of the business, the courage to take risks on people, the courage to believe in people, the courage to speak truth to power, the courage to do the right thing and have integrity. I think courage is a very undervalued characteristic of leadership.