What is Leadership?
This past weekend, I held an online workshop with “leadership” as the topic (I know, it’s a big topic!). We all shared about what we consider to be great leadership, what we felt was challenging on a day-to-day basis and much more. There were so many aha moments for me, too, in the hour and a half that we were together.
I shared about the difference between leadership within a large corporation versus a smaller organization, based on my own experiences.
In a large corporation, leadership was focused on clear delegation, knowing who to assign to which areas and being conscious of what each member of my team was learning and how they were growing. This was especially apparent when I managed a team in Singapore.
Another key point was to be able to show your presence to everyone else in the organization, and be “known” in a good way. I also was conscious about being able to co-lead with other leaders and be able to show our cohesiveness to others.
In small to mid-sized companies, leadership was a lot easier if I knew the operations and day-to-day tasks. Without knowing the details, it was more difficult; the staff doesn’t want to follow and they often expect that you understand those details.
It is logistically easier to communicate with others in a smaller company, but it is also an environment that can easily create a dictator type of leader.
One of the most important aspects of leadership, I find, is to always have the big vision and observation skills in mind.
Leadership is also not just about leading a team at a company; I feel that our leadership skills should be used to lead ourselves as we move through various projects and challenges in our lives.
With the major changes happening in the world, the leadership of each country is showing up in all different kinds of ways.
I believe how we approach and respond to rules and restrictions will be more and more important from now on.
Happy August! I’m planning on enjoying the rest of the Olympic games.
I wish you a wonderful week full of smiles!
