What does leadership mean to you?

We all hear the term leader and leadership but how many of us know what makes a leader, a successful leader. What is leadership to you?

I'll expand on my opinions after a few people have responded first.

A leader is a person who steps up to lead a group towards a common goal.

Leadership is a skill set that helps you naturally be a leader. Leadership skills include: leading group conversations, being a spokesman when needed, being able to take the blame and work through the issue/problem, engaging your group in some or multiple ways, being able and knowing how to run meetings (aka planning), being able to delegate without becoming a dictator (or just a dick!), etc.

As a natural leader, I find that its important to be able to take the blame, know how to not single people out in a group setting, be a spokesman, say "no", and take on most of the work load.

To me, leadership means living my life the way I want others to live theirs.Being a rolemodel. Leading by example.

--Hero Boy

Leadership means you have dedicated yourself to show a sense of loyalty to those who are willing to work with you. It's about teamwork and so much more. The morals and values of a leader should be similar to that of family. A family that works together toward a common goal. I consider Leadership to be very similar to Heroism, as the good traits that can affect a Leader and make one effective, do also the same to a Hero, and vice versa.

"The purpose of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." -Ralph Nader

That quote is very true. Just as the best teacher can teach their students how to be smarter than themselves.

It isn't about being. For to be, can take away from the do. If one is remembered as the best Leader there's been in a hundred years, then how effective could they really have been if they were not able to teach and guide the future generations of leaders to be even better than they themselves were?

The role does have 2 functions. Manager and Educator. One has to do with a task or tasks they guide you to achieve, often which is associated with a selfless accomplishment in the service of others, with or without their help. The other has to do with teaching them to be wiser, smarter, and more experienced.

Leadership is about having a vision or a dream or some goal - along with some form of knowledge or skills, that you share with those that you know can make the most constructive use of it.

We all have good traits and bad traits. The more leaders we have and the more we ourselves lead, the more we learn what is good leadership and what is bad leadership.