What is Leadership?

This morning I read the first chapter of John Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You. In this chapter John defines leadership as influence. We all will influence the people around us in some way during our life. It is said that even the most introverted person will influence 10,000 people during his/her lifetime. According to Maxwell there are 5 levels of leadership- Position, Permission, Production, People Development, and Personhood. At the Position level people follow you because they have to- in other words your leadership is merely a title. At the Permission level people follow you because they want to- this means that there is a relationship piece at this level. The third level is Production- at this level the people follow because of what you have done for the organization- in other words the people are excited about achieving positive results for the good of all. The next level up is People Development- at this level people follow because of what you have done for them. People within the organization begin to help others grow - which leads to greater growth in the organization. The highest level of leadership is Personhood- at this level people follow because of what you stand for and what you represent. There is a sense of loyalty. In most cases this level is reached after years of developing organizations and working with people. As I read about these different levels of leadership there was one word that continuously popped out at me... RELATIONSHIPS...in order for us to be influential in a positive way- we must develop positive RELATIONSHIPS with the people we work with. If you are interested in becoming a better leader, then think about what level of leadership you are currently at with most people. Think about the people in your life that are the most influential to you. Why are they successful at leading? Spend time with the people in your organization that you feel have the most influence on others in your organization. Leadership can be DEVELOPED!