Leadership is like air. It is all around us, but we can’t see it, touch it or taste it. Just like a strong breeze on a summer afternoon, we know leadership by its effects. Good or ill, we know leadership by the impact that is created by people who practice it.
Leadership isn’t primarily a role that people in organizations have. It is rather a way of thinking and behaving. It is how people function who seek to make a difference in the place where they are. A CEO can be a leader. A maintenance worker can be a leader too. The differences are in roles and responsibilities. The similarities are in how they address themselves to the context of work and opportunity.
The idea that leadership is a privilege reserved for executives is a mistaken one. Managers can practice leadership or not. Leadership is a way that any individual can function in any situation. This is the idea that serves the purpose of the rebirth of a column that I wrote for almost five years for my local newspaper.
Leadership Q&A is just what it suggests. It is a column where your questions about leading in our complex, fast-paced world are answered in a simple, practical manner. My aim is to help you discover your own leadership potential one day at a time. This is sort of “Dear Abby for Leaders” (with all due respect to greatest advice columnist ever).
Leadership Q&A is built upon questions. All of us has questions. Last year, I sat down one day and wrote out 31 questions about leadership. I wrote a series of blog posts on those questions, and you can read the ebook of that exercise here.
We often don’t ask questions for fear of seeming foolish. Yet, I find most of us don’t ask because we don’t know how to frame the question. We need to talk our way through the confusing mix of impressions and feelings that keep us from thinking clearly. We need help to do this. It is my hope that with this column we can engage in some conversation that will allow our questions, yours and mine, to become more clear so we can learn together.
My plan is to write one column per week. You can send your questions to me. I can’t promise that I’ll answer every question, or even answer the specific question you ask. I will, however, listen and try to respond the best I can to the issues you wish to address.
See you all next week. Thanks for reading. Got a question?
Related posts:
- Book Review: Just Ask Leadership – Why Great Managers Always Ask The Right Questions by Gary B. Cohen
- Leadership Q&A: What Kind of Leadership Is Needed for Tomorrow?
- Work, Life, Lead: Reviewing Your 2009 Impact
- Leadership Q&A: Thinking Clearly
- BusinessWeek’s 5 Questions with New Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn
Author: Dr. Ed Brenegar (37 Articles)
I'm a leadership speaker, writer and consultant who is a mentor and catalyst for change. I assist leaders and their teams in the transitions required to succeed in today's complex organizational environment. I live in Western North Carolina. I'm involved the Boy Scouts, a charitable leadership training group called Lessons In Leadership, an ordained Presbyterian Church USA minister, and am the host of the Say Thanks Every Day social network.
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