Bumper Sticker Definitions of Leadership

Leadership types were probably always into bumper sticker definitions—brief, catchy sayings that can fit on a car bumper sticker. Before the digital era, there were books of quotable quotes, like, Your attitude determines your altitude. Now, thanks to the internet, those catchy definitions of leadership are everywhere. And…God help us all.

            Check out this one attributed to Steve Jobs, the late founder of Apple, the most valuable company in the world. “Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.” Is that how Steve Jobs built Apple? Really? I doubt it.

So, how does a mere mortal whose name plate only says, ‘Manager’ break into leadership? What’s the first step? There is no guidance on that. No blueprint. Just a catchy saying that’s not necessarily getting the average person from point A to point B.

            Check out this next one by a Donald McGannon: “Leadership is an action, not a position.” Must you give up your manager name plate to become a leader?

            This next one is by Sundar Pichai. “Leadership is learning to let go and really empowering people at all levels of the organization, and trusting them to do the right thing.”  What happens if you are not in an organization?

            Now, here is one that must be a big, fat, lie. “I am not impressed by your position, title, and money. I am impressed by how you treat others.” No wonder it is anonymous.

            Now, here is a quote from someone we really want to follow—Napoleon. “The role of a leader is to define reality and give hope.” Reminds me of Jim Jones, Kool Aid—and hundreds of dead bodies in the jungle!

            Here’s the point. Leadership is a practical activity. However, it also requires deep thinking. Definition that restricts leadership to persuading, inspiring, and communicating simplify leadership to the point of making it impractical and misleading.

            To define leadership in a way that associates it with the difficult or impossible such as changing followers’ minds and beliefs tend to be impractical: they leave learners confused about how and where to start their leadership journey.

To imply that management is boring while leadership is fun is misleading. For one, these statements do not clarify how management and leadership work together in reality.

Overall, the biggest difficulty I have with bumper sticker definitions of leadership is that they reveal very little about the true nature of leadership.

            There is a whole lot that is known about leadership that can’t be written on a bumper sticker, quotable quote, or a caption! Then, there is even more that remains unknown about what leadership is. That is why the definition I find most usable is that ‘leadership is a system of action between leader and follower.’