5 Truths That Redefine Leadership

What Leadership Actually IS

David Moss, Co-Founder, Partner

New rule: you can’t do that!  

The human default mode for leadership is whoever holds the power is the “leader” and what they do is considered “leadership”. I see it when kids self-organize a playground game and then usurp the authority to make the rules and dominate the game, so they win. I see it play out at various companies around the world as those in positions of authority exercise power to get compliance and use fear to control.  

After only two weeks at my first full-time job, I decided to do what I had seen done in my internship- use power to drive compliance. I looked at the company policies, I reviewed the HR systems, and I found infractions. Dress code, attendance, safety, and so on. When the day was done, I think I was at about 12 write-ups. Are you impressed? So was I. 

I didn’t act out of a hunger for power or vindictiveness, I simply thought I was doing my job, using my power, and I felt pretty good about it. It would be a new golden age of perfect attendance, closed-toed shoes, and proper lifting technique. 

Luckily for me, my manager heard about my unilateral crusade and helped me to see the error of my ways. I was there to support the goals of the organization, to help the organization to thrive, and to do it in the right way. 

Leadership is a verb. Leadership is not just a list of leadership qualities. It is the act of mobilizing people in a process of action, learning, and change to fulfill the purpose of the organization. Central to this LTI definition is the impact leadership has on people. True acts of leadership make things better:  

• The people involved are better 

• The organization is better 

• Productivity is better 

  
  

So, if leadership is a verb. What actually IS leadership?  

1. Leadership is a type of work 

2. Leadership is a process 

3. Leadership is moral 

4. Leadership is personal 

5. Leadership is organizational 

1. Leadership is a Type of Work 

The act of mobilizing people is work. Thinking about how to make things better in the world around us takes work. Creating a unified vision, building a team, acquiring resources and keeping on track is work.  

This quarter, I am responsible for organizing people from my congregation to clean our church. Getting 10-15 people to voluntarily show up early each Saturday, takes organizing, encouraging, thanking, and inviting (to come again the next week). This is not an act of authority, it is the work of mobilizing people in a shared purpose. It is work. Authority may be fluid or non-existent, but great things can be accomplished through this work of leadership.  

2. Leadership is a Process 

Remember my experience at my first job? Contrast that with this experience. During the holiday seasons, I had the monumental task of ramping up my company’s workforce from 300 to 1200 people in two months and then ramping it back down three months later. This task required me to create a plan with partners such as operations, staffing agencies, training, IT, security, and more. I had to understand what was important to each partner and create a vision and plan that everyone agreed with. We worked as a team to make it all happen. We did it, and did it again each new cycle, year after year, making great improvements each time. Those improvements came from each member of the team.  

There are three distinct phases – Initiate, Mobilize, Empower – that play out in the work of leadership. In this process, a potential opportunity or problem is recognized, socialized, and explored with stakeholders. A collective vision of change is formed. A team is built (ideally, those involved in shaping the vision), and that team is then empowered with knowledge, time, and energy to bring the vision to life. 

Initiate, Mobilize, Empower- the Leadership Process.  

It is a repeatable, scalable (up or down), consistent process that makes the world around us better.  

3. Leadership is a Moral Work 

Leadership is always and everywhere a moral act. Why? Because our actions always have an impact on people, real humans with value and potential.  

You can mobilize people in countless ways to achieve endless goals. But if your actions ignore the impact they have on people, it isn’t leadership. It might be management, supervision, the exercise of power, or even tyranny — but it is not leadership.  

Both the way we mobilize people and what we aim to achieve need to be done in the context of the people involved and impacted. Sometimes we may need to make decisions that negatively affect people, but this must never be done lightly, because leadership is a moral work.  

4. Leadership is Personal  

A question I often ask in interviews and in development classes is: Who is the best and worst manager you have ever worked for or around?  

The common answer for the best manager sounds like this: 

“They really cared about me as a person. They helped me become who I am today.” 

The worst manager?  

“They didn’t really see me as a person; I was just a number. They knew nothing about me.”  

Leadership is about relationships. It is deeply personal; it is never just business.  

5. Leadership is Organizational  

I recently spoke with a small retail business owner. His complaint: our employees don’t seem to care. This is a very common observation that has many contributing factors. One that is overlooked is the organizational system that helps everyone to act in a way that looks like caring.  

Do they have training to understand the business, how it works? Do they have access to data? Do they have freedom, psychological safety, and incentives to make meaningful decisions?  

You can build organizational systems in such a way that empowers people to be leaders. We call it the Modular Leadership System. This system allows the responsibility of leadership to permeate- it includes everyone and invites everyone to be a leader. 

So Now What?  

The implications of our definition of leadership are not convenient, but it is effective leadership. It might at times feel burdensome but has a promise of immense joy and satisfaction.  

Most leadership programs are centered on how to develop skills so you can acquire more power by authority of a promotion. Our programs focus on exercising power through people, meaning giving them the power to accomplish the work. 

How can viewing leadership as a verb help make the world around you better?