[September 4, 2013] Is there a difference in basic leadership and senior executive leadership? To answer the question, we must get to the fundamental concept of leadership and its various meanings. Leadership, at its heart, is the ability to get people to accomplish a goal they would not necessarily have done. Now, many people will argue with me about this definition because it does lack clarity and does not draw a line between management and leadership. For now, this is a good starting point.
Fundamentally, basic and senior executive leadership are founded on the same principles. This blog is dedicated to the discussion about and discovery of those principles. One principle that is implicit in all conversations on leadership is that it is something you can learn; it is not innate. Vince Lombardi said, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.” Most of us would agree or we would not be leaders who are working to improve our leader skills. This means leadership can be taught and learned.
Senior executive leadership takes those basic leadership characteristics and moves them to another level. But this is not a simple matter of degree. Two examples: 1) senior executive leaders put a greater effort into teaching, coaching, and mentoring more than junior leaders do and 2) senior executive leaders are under a far greater level of external pressures and temptations (and we hear about their failures on the news cycle). In the near future I will post about how “You Live in a Bubble for all to See – Get Over It.” Good senior executive leadership is achieved through communications, relationships, time management, balance, and effecting change.
Thought for the day: We should be concerned about the erosion of the culture of leadership.
Do you agree or disagree with my discussion today? Please make comments.