Sync

What makes a good leader?

This is one of those questions that ranks up there with “what is art?” and “what is love?”, reckons Mark Wright, our leadership expert for Sync. Mark says:

What I do know is that good leaders are like a good kissers – difficult to describe exactly what they do but you do know about it when you are in their embrace. However, before we get too intimate on a first date, I would like to try and provoke a bit of thinking about what leadership is not.

Everyone has their own idea of what a good leader is. You can down into what Sync members think on the Sync people page - if you click on one of the square pictures on the site, you'll find that person's perspective.

You can also check out a piece by Sync member Philip Patston on The remote control of leadership and see how you can develop your leadership skills and become a good leader without even having leave the comfort of your sofa!

The remote control of leadership

Leadership as a behaviour

So back to Mark's take:

First of all, let’s consider the idea that a leader is the person in charge of an organisation, company or group. If you have the responsibility of running one of these structures then you are, by definition, the leader. Certainly this is a commonly held assumption and many books, development programmes and MBA’s start from this position, implying that only people who can (or want) to work in this way can be leaders. However, I have been around enough arts organisations, cultural institutions and commercial businesses to recognise those that are truly being led as opposed to those that are simply being managed well. At the same time, we have probably all got stories of remarkable leadership popping up in the most unexpected places, including people who apparently have nobody to lead.

Which leads me on to my second observation; something remarkable happens when you uncouple the action of leadership behaviour from the positional power that comes with a job title. If you remove the assumption that leadership is about “being in charge of everything” and replace it with the idea of “leadership being a set of behaviours within a sphere of influence” then it suddenly feels very liberating.

Whereas the first assumption creates a sense of pressure on the burgeoning leader and provides everybody else with the option of abdicating responsibility, the second idea gives us all the choice to make a difference.

Now it is certainly true that some people will have a relatively small sphere of influence compared to others, but that doesn’t really matter – it is a sphere; it extends all around you - to people working alongside you, for you and to whom you might report. And can be stretched through remarkable, creative behaviours, irrespective of job title. Cleaner or king – it makes no difference to me.

Hang on, I hear you cry, we can’t all be leaders – life will be too hectic and anarchic. Well, that’s true, so maybe leadership isn’t an all or nothing option and we can give ourselves a break. If it’s all about behaviours then maybe there are other things we can do well too.

Different takes

As people join Sync, they are asked what they feel makes a good leader. Responses include:

• A good leader ignites passion and energy whilst providing boundaries and support

• Some leadership traits are contrary. For example, whilst ego is important, so is humility

• Great leadership is when leadership is almost forgotten, because power feels shared

• Everyone I have met that has life demonstrates leadership

• Without dwelling on all that leadership/management speak... I'd say that a leader is someone who should inspire!

Mark challenges the idea that a leader is only ever the person in charge of an organisation, company or group. This opens leadership up to those of us who don’t want to run organisations, and it also means that those of us who struggle to see ourselves as leaders can begin to look instead at how and when we lead.

For disabled people, this can be quite revolutionary: we don’t all have to work 24/7 and attend breakfast meetings at 7.30am to do leadership!

And finally...

You can comment on this article and add in your perspective too - Sync is about debate and discussion rather than providing answers.

Here is Mark’s final thought:

I believe you can learn to be a good kisser, It might take practice, consideration and a bit of passion but don’t feel you have to be kissing all day every day or it stops being special. Ultimately, it is other people, not you, who will judge how good a kisser, or leader you are.