Leaders do a lot of things! But mostly they provide cohesion. They set a vision, goals to achieve it and tasks to get you there. And they package all these in a way to be affordable, comprehensible and easily achievable. What great leaders do is to make you see the achievable behind the vision and the road to lead you there. That’s why we admire some people and we like to be with them and follow them and share their vision! To be part of a new and cohesive view of a very possible “would be”!
Leaders form a vision of the things should be or identify a problem to be solved (and concerns too many people!). Comprise the vision to a catch-all phrase or to coherent pitch (and in the process they transform the way the people think about something or identify something new, people want to participate in!).
They form a strategy, i.e. an approach to solving the problem and identify the goals/objectives. Identify the key strategies and activities for achieving the goals. The process has a meaning for you and aims at make you better, in many ways!
They are aware of the chained activities towards a goal and the chain-link systems at play (“A system has a chain-link logic when its performance is limited by its weakest sub-unit, or “link”“, a concept I borrowed from the excellent book: Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters
They gather people, energy, commitment, thoughts, actions, systems, methodologies, assets, tools, approaches, resources, assets and provide guidance towards the objectives. Provide aims and re-focusing on the view (the vision) and the approach (the strategy) when the things are going astray.
They always aim at make possible the change they predict and, at the process, transform themselves, they followers and the vision to something more tangible to have and provide meaning to much more people!
They are always aware to be clear and concise to their messages and their action! They focus on coordinating all the resources at the achievement of sub-tasks of the greater goal, and are committed to channel all the available resources towards that end, while preparing succession of the leadership function and the next phases to be followed!
That’s why leadership is a disruptive function! It transforms and better the lives of everyone involves in the process! It assembles various, different and not compatible (most of the times) ideas, minds, people, resources under the auspices of a simple, coherent and easy to be understood by all view of the world and make it common ground.
The cohesion and the power of this vision are what makes leadership effective and a basic transformation agent towards the enhancement of yourself at a personal and business level!
