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Leadership Essentials

Guest post by: Fritz Glaus

Article Overview: Leadership is the most important element required to build a strong organization, community and family. Much has been written about the qualities required to be a great leader. Realistically, the essential elements are quite simple but may take years to fully develop. This article explains these simple yet essential qualities for developing solid leadership.

Leadership Essentials

What are the essentials of leadership? To discuss the subject, it may be best to first define what is meant by ‘'leadership''.

Below is a definition of leadership by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tse.

The superior leader gets things done with very little motion. He imparts instruction not through many words but through a few deeds. He keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all. He is a catalyst, and though things would not get done well if he weren't there, when they succeed he takes no credit. And because he takes no credit, credit never leaves him - Lao Tse, Tao Te Ching

If you were described as such a leader, you would be a highly esteemed person, regard-less of your area of leadership, be it the community, politics, business, or any other area.

Now let's look at the definitions by two of our more contemporary thinkers, Peter Drucker and John C. Maxwell,

The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers - Peter Drucker

Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less - John C. Maxwell

Do the Drucker and Maxwell definitions in any way contradict that of Lao Tse? They obviously don't. While their definitions are much shorter and do not express everything that is expressed in Lao Tse's definition, the meaning of their short statements is not absent in Lao Tse's more descriptive text. Moreover, assuming that it is good and effective leadership that we are after, we can say that Peter Drucker and John C. Maxwell express in a nutshell what Lao Tse describes more extensively.

The leadership essentials contained in the above information require that the leader:

- possess superior human qualities

- have influence without ostentation

- have people who want to follow

- lead by example

- keep well informed

- hardly interfere

- be a catalyst -- make things happen

- take no credit for success

- be given credit by people

There you have it. Short and sweet, yet pretty complete.

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Article Tags: definition of leadership, essential elements, John C Maxwell, Lao Tse, lead by example, leadership, leadership essentials, leadership qualities, Peter Druker
Referred by: http://www.threebrainsynergy.com



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