Leaders by Design

I’m often asked whether people are born leaders or if leadership can be taught and developed. While some people are natural-born leaders, I believe leadership can be taught.

When I speak with audiences, I often ask, “How many of you are leaders?” Hardly anyone puts a hand up because many people think leadership is about having a position of authority. Then I ask who has had the most influence in their lives. Usually they talk about family members or close friends. Rarely do they talk about leaders in positions of authority at work.

Why does a mother, father or close family friend often have the most impact on a person’s life? It’s because leadership is an influence process. Anytime people attempt to influence the thinking, beliefs or development of others, they are leading. That’s why it’s so important to recognize that everyone — from the seasoned CEO to the new hire — can benefit from leadership development.

Leadership is not something you do to people; it’s something you do with them. As a manager or an individual contributor, your ability to lead depends more on the quality of your relationships than on your positional power. By effectively relating to people over time, you are leading. Whether you’re a manager who wants to influence your direct report or vice versa, you need to learn how to communicate with that person in a way that creates positive results. That’s leadership.

I’m glad more organizations are appointing chief learning officers because the word learning implies a behavioral change. CLOs play a vital role in aligning behavior with the organization’s business objectives. Once you understand that anyone can be a leader and that leadership is an influence process, your leadership development program can really come to life. Here are some ideas to get started.

Involve CEOs as models for leadership development. If CEOs want to see positive results, they need to get involved in their organizations’ leadership development strategy. When people see that the CEO applies and practices the encouraged behaviors, they understand that these behaviors are tied to the business strategy.