Leadership Has Nothing To Do With Title or Control

By Rick DeMarco

Leadership is probably the topic of more articles on organizational effectiveness and business success than any other subject.  Over the years, the definition of effective leadership has shifted from one of a strong autocratic leader who makes decisions and drives the direction of others with little or no input and no trepidation, to one who has the ability to get the best from people by engaging them and providing them with what they need to be effective.

I believe that leadership has nothing to do with title and everything to do with behavior.  I have seen people in my life with absolutely no title of any consequence lead others to achieve amazing things.  And I have seen CEO’s who were unsuccessful in getting anyone to share his/her vision or to follow his/her lead.  After all, a leader with no followers is really no leader at all.  People may adhere to organizational structure and hierarchy, but they don’t respect the title…..they respect the person with the title.   And in the end, it doesn’t matter what a leader says….it matters what he/she does.   Leading by example is the greatest attribute of effective leaders.  They model the behavior that they are asking others to exhibit and lead the way towards achievement of a clear vision.

And it has nothing to do with control and everything to do with influence.  You can order someone to do something, but you can never order them to be passionate about it.  Unless they share your vision and values, you’ll never capture their heart or their true commitment.  At best, you will be able to temporarily buy their superficial commitment with money or other short term needs.  Effective leadership is defined by the ability to influence and inspire others to share a common vision, strategy, and set of core values and to engage and mobilize them to collectively achieve that vision.   People follow with passion and commitment because they believe in their leader’s vision.  And I’m not talking about skillful manipulation.  I’m talking about a sincere desire to create an environment in which people truly see your vision and believe that achieving it will have a significant impact on the company, on others, and on themselves.