Leadership is...

Last month I had the pleasure of spending a week reflecting on what leadership is and how to lead well, thanks to the incredibly rich and well-delivered experience called the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute offered by the Cascade Executive Programs of the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. I know, it's a mouthful. Most folks just call it NELI.

As a NELI participant, I was treated to a binder of reading material and some very rich discussion about leadership. One of the things that I confronted along the way was my own frustration at the number of different ways leadership was explained, defined and categorized. "Who the heck could ever possibly do all of that?" I asked myself, rather petulantly I might add because I do seek to excel at whatever I turn my attention to. Eventually my frustration was resolved once I realized that there is no "best" leadership model to excel at. Instead, there is me being the best leader I can be. And the only way to do that is...to do it. As one of those experts in the binder put it, "Leadership is an improvisational art."

At the risk of sending others into the same tailspin of self doubt that I confronted, I have compiled the following list of definitions and descriptions of leadership from what stood out for me at NELI. For me this list is inspiring as I seek to find my way as an effective, positive and clear leader. I hope this list serves the same purpose for you.

Leadership is…

…an opportunity to use discretion in times of ambiguity, to determine what is both desirable and possible to do. (Mark Moore, Creating Public Value)

…situational, with success linked to alignment with the organizational life cycle, for example: entrepreneurial and visionary during the grass roots invention stage, and well-rounded with delegation of authority and clear accountability in the mature sustainability phase. (Speakman Consulting, Nonprofit Organizational Life Cycle model)

…all about intention, an ability to shape your own and others’ world. It begins within. (Gloria Burgess, Legacy Living)

…being a person who has an unusual degree of power to create the conditions under which other people must live and move and have their being…a person who must take special responsibility for what’s going on inside himself or herself, inside his or her consciousness, lest the act of leadership create more harm than good. (Parker Palmer, Leading from Within)

…a process of working with others to move forward an organizational or community agenda. “Positional leadership” is a title, and leadership is a process. (Michelle Gislason, Coaching Skills)

…a developmental process of building from self outward. Developing competency in leading self, leading others, leading an organization, leading within the community, and leading within a movement. (Compass Point, Leadership Framework)

…guiding your staff through the process of transition (versus recognizing that a change has happened, which is an event). (William Bridges, Managing Transitions)

…a responsive external orientation in which the strategies pursued are directed at the tasks of mission accomplishment and resource acquisition. (Robert Herman, Executive Leadership)

…owning more than one style of leadership in order to be skilled at several styles, and having the flexibility to switch between styles as the circumstances dictate. Being able to switch among the authoritative, affiliative, democratic, and coaching styles as conditions dictate creates the best organizational climate and optimizes business performance. (Daniel Goleman, Leadership That Gets Results)

…developing skill at “getting off the dance floor and going to the balcony” to optimize self-reflection, and becoming skilled at distinguishing between technical and adaptive challenges. (Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, Leadership on the Line)

…an improvisational art. You must respond to what’s happening. A plan is no more than today’s best guess. (Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, Leadership on the Line)