Michael Yetter

Several months ago I went to a leadership convention. While at the convention they asked us to define leadership in our own words by the end of the weekend. After a few days of listening to several people talk about how to be an impacting leader I sat down and thought up my definition of leadership. It was something like "Leadership is helping people see the best in the past, be the best in the present, and become better in the future." Having thought more in depth on the subject I have one small change to make. No longer is just seeing the best in the past good enough, you need to learn from your past.
Using my definition of leadership as a rubric for good leaders has helped me choose different leaders to patten my life after. Instead of looking at what a leader does I look at who they impact and how that person is impacted. In doing this I have sadly discovered that although some people hold leadership positions they are in fact not leaders. If what that leader is doing does not help develop other people, they are not an actual leader and that position is just a title for them.
Proper leadership is not just looking to get the job done but to learn from the job and help others learn from the job.
If you notice, in this post I talk more about what a good leader is not. I do this because in my life time I have seen more examples of bad leadership than I have of good. This is sad to say but true and I plan on changing that, starting with me. I know that right now I do not have a leadership position per say but we are all leaders to those around us. What we say, do, what we don't say, don't do, affects the people we interact with everyday. I desire to be a positive leader in their life. One that does not plow someone over just because I can, but one that takes the time to communicate with you so you understand and agree with what I am doing. I do not want to be a leader that just bosses people around, but one that gives advise and then turns around and takes advise. May God help me on my quest to become a good leader, and may God bless me with a high paying job because I became a good leader, amen!