Leadership in Everyday Life

Throughout my career, I have learned a lot about an important discipline: Leadership.  This is a skill that we can always improve upon, and it can be applied to all aspects of business and life.

When I worked at Graniterock, this was a skill that everyone was expected to learn and practice. We believed that leadership can be demonstrated at all levels of the organization. We all read several books on this subject including a book named “The New SuperLeadership: Leading Others to Lead Themselves” by Charles C. Manz and Henry P. Sims, Jr. SuperLeaders empower, coach, teach, reward, and arrange circumstances to enable followers to lead themselves and enhance their own performance.

A lot of people are surprised when I tell them that you should be a great leader in your life before you become a good leader at your work. The characteristics of leadership are essentially the same whether you apply it at work or at home. 

I believe leadership is a capability that most of us have within. We just need to recognize it and nourish it. It is developed as we tackle the opportunities and challenges of everyday life, and it is measured by our successes and our failures.

Leadership is not about managing people or necessarily being in a position of authority as many believe. In fact, the most powerful form of leadership is when one acts without authority, and lead people who do not have to work for them, think of Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

My definition of leadership is having an uncompromising set of values, a clear desire for a great outcome (vision), being positive & inspiring, empowering & developing the followers, being a great listener, and as a result becoming a role model for others to follow.

As you have seen, all of these qualities are applied by leaders in a work environment as we mostly expect. But more importantly, it can be applied in everyday life with our families, friends, schools, communities and government.

In a family environment, teaching our values, creating a successful vision for our kids, inspiring them to flourish, and being a role model for them, are all crucial in developing our kids to become a valuable member of society. On a personal note, I am reminded every Father’s Day by my kids that how much they value what I have taught them and how they view me as a good role model. This humbling experience is one of my proudest moments.

Practicing leadership is not as hard as people may think. The characteristics that were mentioned earlier can be practiced with your family, friends, loved ones and co-workers. This matures our internal leadership power so that when greater opportunities to lead at work and in society appear, we are ready to lead them commendably. Leadership is also a teachable trait – that is to say, by taking leadership actions we will inspire others to do the same.

And finally, remember that you are already a leader in ways you may not be fully aware of, and never underestimate the influence you have on the lives of people around you. So, let’s take advantage of this and help to improve our families, friends, and our society.

I will write in more details about how to improve leadership skills in the future blogs.