Much has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders throughout world history – Churchill, Mandela, King, Powell. But there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves overlook or fail to recognize and realize in the course of reading books. To that end the following is a short list of things you thought you knew – and may need to be reminded of – about leadership.

1. Leaders come in different flavors.

There are different types of leaders and you will undoubtedly encounter – or already have – more than one type in your lifetime. Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as municipal Councilors, Mayors, Members of Parliament, or local club Presidents. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of their wisdom and experience such as Church Elders or our Grandparents; or by virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles:

• Lewin’s three basic leadership styles – authoritative, participative, and delegative
• Likert’s four leadership styles – exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative
• Goleman’s six emotional leadership styles – visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pace-setting, and commanding.

2. Leadership is a process of becoming.

Although certain people seem to be born with innate leadership qualities, without the right environment and exposure, they may fail to develop their full potential.  Much the same as learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader and hone your leadership abilities. Knowledge on leadership theories and skills may be formally gained by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences. Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain leadership insights, and thus furthering the cycle of learning. You do not become a leader in one day and just stop. Life-long learning is important in becoming a good leader for each day brings new experiences that put your knowledge, skills, and attitude to the test.

3. Leadership starts with you.

The best way to develop leadership qualities is to apply it to your own life. As the old adage goes “action speaks louder than words.” Leaders are always in the limelight. Keep in mind that your credibility as a leader depends much on your actions: your interaction with your family, friends, and co-workers; your way of managing your personal and organizational responsibilities; and even the way you talk with the receptionist upon entering your health care professional’s office. Repeated actions become habits. Habits in turn form a person’s character. Steven Covey’s book entitled 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides basic insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.

4. Leadership is shared.

Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but rather a shared responsibility among members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfill. Formal leadership positions are merely added responsibilities aside from their responsibilities as members of the team. Effective leadership requires members to do their share of work.  Capitulation and failure of leaders to do their share of the work is not an option. Starting as a mere group of individuals, members and leaders work towards the formation of an effective team. In this light, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. To learn how to work together requires a great deal of trust between and among leaders and members of an emerging team. Trust is built upon actions and not merely on words. When mutual respect exists, trust is fostered and confidence is built.

5. Leadership styles depend on the situation.

Why is it that dictatorship works for Singapore but not for Canada or the US? Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, and form of government, the current situation of a nation also affects the leadership styles used by its formal leaders. There is no rule that only one style can be used. Generally and most of the time leaders employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation. However in emergency situations such as periods of war and calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death. At such crisis points a nation’s leader cannot afford exorbitant time taken to consult with all departments in order to arrive at a crucial decision. The case is of course different in times of peace and order—different sectors and other branches of government can freely interact and participate in governance. Another case in point is in leading organizations. When various department staff are highly motivated and competent, a combination of high delegative and moderate participative styles of leadership is most appropriate. But if departmental staff have low competence and low commitment, a combination of high coaching, high supporting, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is required.

And so it begins…

As noted earlier some leadership styles are intrinsic, known at “gut” level with their concepts taken for granted.  For many of us leadership is an ongoing learning and evolutionary process, and it does not happen in a vacuum. Keep in mind some of the principles above when recognizing that to become a true leader there will be learning and sharing with your peers, together with knowing the prudence to vacillate between directing, delegating or participating depending on the situation and the expectations placed upon you and your team.