Leadership a Journey Planner

Over the years, the University of Washington has asked me to guest lecture on leadership, business transformation, and emerging technologies. This presentation on leadership was presented to people starting their journey as leaders.

As with many graduate-level classes, the discipline is not formulaic. It is a series of applied lessons from work you've done, application of experience, training that has been put into practice, and most importantly, the current situation. 

Themes:

1. Great Person Theory
2. Some people have exceptional inborn skills and the ability to adapt to situations. Most of us do not. Successful influence comes from trust, characterized by a person's competency and character. Competency establishes that they are highly skilled or effective at tasks. Character is a person's reliability, believability, and repeatability to do something over time.
3. Leaders are born, not made
4. As mentioned above, leadership is something learned. In hunter-gatherer societies, physical prowess and good genes would seem to dominate the mindset of what we think of as leaders. A certain level of aggressive behavior puts some in a leadership role. The trait people look to is assertiveness. The ability to get out in front because they have to, have no choice or have identified how to resolve the situation. The examples I chose were Bilbo Baggins and Ellen Ripley. They are fictional characters but archetypes that became leaders because the situation dictated it, and they adapted.
5. Leaders are adaptable.
6. Power is taken
7. An important example of assertion versus aggression. Leaders assert themselves and share a solution. It isn't necessary to be in charge for you to lead. The model you presented revolves around character and competency, allowing others to find the path with you. Leaders can take control, but it's more critical for them to align with others. 
8. Influence is derived from structure
9. For some, leadership is defined by a hierarchy, its depth, and the number of people in their control. This is an illusion. While often derided, YouTube, TikTok, and social media influencers have no structure. Yet they command vast allegiance and sway.
10. Leadership is qualitative and not quantitative
11. Success can be measured. We've done it throughout human history. The number of times a company has achieved market dominance through superior products and product marketing. Apple is one example. They lead in the consumer-oriented design and broad usability. While someone may "feel" good as a leader, it's the results and legacy they leave that matter.

The full presentation is available for one-click. I presented it in an "ignite" style format though I took longer than five minutes :). What are your stories of the leadership journey? I'd love to hear from you, contact me here.