How do you define leadership? It can be an abstract concept because it isn’t something that can be sensed in a physical way. It is like an invisible hand that guides an organization or team through a series of moments. Although we can’t taste, touch, or smell it, we can still sense it though when it’s being applied to our lives.
We all develop our own definition of leadership, or more importantly, our methods of applying it. I have an MBA, and I had to read the academic positions of leadership. I also read for my own pleasure and self-discovery. Reading opens our worlds up to other possibilities, and we become an amalgamation of what we have read. We take bits and pieces of everything we expose ourselves to, like a living recipe that is forever improving with time. You may think you have it just right, but another ingredient is added to your batch of dough, and you rise just a little higher.
Because I work with a lot of young people in my line of work, I empathize with their plight of trying to figure a lot of things out in not a lot of time. They are busy learning how to be a Sailor, an adult, and a professional. They get to do these thousands of miles away from their former support structure in America, in a foreign nation, and often in the middle of the ocean. It’s not easy being young. One of my tasks is not to create more followers, but more leaders. This can get tricky when trying to reach them and speak in a frequency they understand, trust, and accept. There are many barriers to reaching them: a generation gap, intellect, preferred methods of communication, or just life experiences.
When I have the opportunity to talk about leadership, I gravitate to two of my personal favorites. Leaders are the conductors of the orchestra. They are in front, see the sheet music of everyone, knowing where the music is going. As conductor, they can decide how to play the band. They are not the ones playing the instruments, and this is an important consideration to remember. They cue in the trumpets, lower the woodwinds, trigger the tympani roll, etc. They can see everyone’s role, signal everyone to make it all mesh together to a harmonic masterpiece. What they also do is give instruction and guidance. Everyone in the band is responsible for being the best they can be, practice in their own time and contribute their all for the sake of the band, but it is the conductor who brings all of these individual talents together as a team to move in one singular direction.
My second favorite metaphor is more biblical. Leaders are shepherds of a flock. They have with them just a staff. They guide their flock to the better pasture, keep them safe from wolves, and be among them. Their staff is an important tool as well. They can individually signal a lamb for extra attention, and sometimes their lessons are more painful than others, but a shepherd cannot do their job without their flock, and the flock would fall apart without their leader.
It’s the symbiotic relationship between leaders and followers that is most intriguing to me, and I think about that often.