How does how we see leading shape when, where and even if we lead? What if leading isn’t just a role but a way of being in any context?

If someone asked you if you think you are a leader, what would you say?

When would you say you are a leader? Where?

What is it that makes you a leader then and not at another time or place? 

If you do not think you are a leader, what may be the reasons you give? 

What do all these answers say about what you think and believe leading is? 

How would you know you are leading? 

If you had to define what leading is, how does that definition apply to you and your life? When are you leading? When are you not? What is the impact of both? What enables or prevents you from leading? 

What are all the assumptions we make about leading? 

What if how we see leading shapes how we lead or even whether we see ourselves as leaders? 

From personal experience, how can it feel that I have learnt more about leading in a year where I have not had any formal leadership position than the three years of being CEO of an organisation? While the subjective experience of one person, what could this say about leading and what it is to lead? 

When we talk about leading, what do we really mean? 

When you look up a definition in a Dictionary it always comes with an example, the context in which a word fits. When asked to define a word, what is it like providing an explicit definition compared to offering an illustration?

For example, try writing a definition of ‘leading’ or ‘leader’ down.

Now try providing examples that illustrate how that word can be used. 

Now if you brought a hundred people together, what may be the effect of only having everyone’s examples of what leading is rather than an explicit definition? 

If we only have a sense of leading through context then we risk missing opportunities to lead in ways that can be profoundly beneficial for us and for others. 

Having spoken to many people about leading, a majority of the reflections focus on work, while the context of the conversation can have an influence if we are only considering leading by context or as a role, we are less conscious of how leading could apply beyond that context. 

Always leading vs leading by context

What if we considered what leading may mean in each of the roles we have in life rather than considering that the role determines whether we are leading or not? 

So what would it look like to lead as a friend, what would it look like to lead as a partner, a parent, colleague, a teammate, a employee, an employer, a neighbour, a family member? 

And when we consider all the roles we play and have played in our lives, where have we been leading without realising? What would it be like to bring that to somewhere we haven’t been leading so much? 

Given we are not these roles, but they are all parts of us, what would it look like to approach these with a sense that we are always leading? Perhaps we may dial up some aspects depending on context? I may want to lead from the front in one situation or role and lead more from behind in another role. (And consider how you interpret what those examples of leading look like from those very vague ideas: leading from the front and leading from behind).

And how are we practising leading how we want in one space for how we want to lead in another? For example, if I am leading in one way as a colleague, what may that mean for how I lead as a partner or friend? 

What if we assume we are always leading, and it is more about how we want to lead? 

What if a better question for all of us is not whether we are leaders, but how do we want to lead in each moment? 

What may be some of our guiding principles to lead, across all the roles we play in our lives and the world? How may they look in each context? 

If you knew you are always leading, what would be different day to day? 

What do you need in order to be clear on what leading is for you and how you want to lead? 

What would leading then look like in the roles you play in your life and in the world? 

What would be the impact if we all assumed we are always leading and it was more a question of how we want to lead, when and where?