Are You a Leader?

In some recent interaction with others about leadership, we discussed the importance of realism in assessment of ourselves and others regarding strengths, weaknesses, and limits. This was prompted by a question that an aspiring leader asked me some time back: “Would you consider me to be a leader?” My observation is that many people, especially men, do not have an honest and accurate view of themselves regarding leadership. Some of this is a result of a lack of honest feedback from others, who know and care about us. Another reason is confusion between leadership style and leadership ability. People influence others, based on how they are wired, so it does not look the same for all people. Still another might be the confusion between charisma and leadership. While there are people, who have more natural attractiveness and influence than others, the most effective leaders may not be the most charismatic people. Jim Collins confirmed this in his book Good to Great. All of this gives rise to an important question: “What characterizes true leaders?” While I have some thoughts on this, I am curious as to the thoughts of others.