What Makes A Real Leader?

Gandhi, Clinton, Mason, Malcolm X, Hitler, Obama, Mandela, Bush, King Jr., and Bin Laden; they all had power because they said something that made people want to follow them – but were they truly leaders…how would you define a true leader?

In Reckoning’s quest to inspire and foster leadership,we have been exploring, educating, examining and executing the dynamics influence. At our core we desire to be transformative in our leadership – meaning incorporating holistic change in others and ourselves. In the books we have read (and there have been many Burns, Hagberg, Autry, Block McIntosh & Rima to name a few off the top of my head) they all keep circling around two main core principles: integrity and morals.

If these are the two harbingers of true leadership then not everyone who leads can be defined as a leader in the purest sense of the word. Have we become too fast and limiting as we label people in terms of leadership? If people follow you is that enough to be a real leader or can someone actually lead from behind? Do you need a position and title or can authority at times undermine the process? These are some of the things we wrestle with daily. If we chose to use integrity and morals as our anchors then a glance at the names above would cause an immediate divide. In James Mac Gregor Burns’ “Transforming Leadership,” he categorizes leaders as either transactional or transformational. Transactional leaders are bound to those they lead by an exchange of some valued entity (usually tangible – ex. I will give you lower taxes if you give me your vote) where as transformative types are closely involved with those they lead centered around a purpose that encourages the elevation of mankind by fostering higher levels of (yes you guessed it) morality and integrity. Transparency and mutual empowerment definitely separates the men from the boys. Idi Amin, Stalin and the like would quickly fall away even though they wielded power.

So if transformational leadership is the destination, then how point out leaders would shift things dramatically. Might we see people at the helm we never imagined? Wouldn’t have less to do with power, prestige or status. Portraying perfection would be ridiculous because every one on this planet can improve on something no matter who or where you happen to be. Being the CEO of a company may mean that you are a great manager but a questionable leader. We might recognize the janitor, who gives his time and energy to know and encourage the students, as the most pivotal and real guide at a prep school. True inspiration does not wait for the paycheck or title to lead, it just does.

Can you imagine what accountable, tireless, holistic, self-less, servant driven leadership might compel people towards? Can you imagine how it might shift the paradigms of people, communities or nations? You do not have to try hard to remember how one or two people have turned the world upside down in this fashion leading to an overwhelming and at times unexpected leap in consciousness. I do not know about you, but I am putting my bets on the dark horse; I believe in the end they will pay out, even if it means they lose everything to succeed.