What a wonderful conversation!  My father is a retired military officer and I have two brothers deploying for Iraq in the next month (one for the second time).

I appreciate the amazing contributions that have been made already, and I respectfully offer the following thoughts:

1.  Leadership is evolving and growing.  As science, research, experience, and time go on, we become smarter and more reflective on the subject.  The past definitions may no longer fulfill a more humanistic viewpoint.  Indeed, even the leadership training in the military has evolved as new discoveries are made.

2.  Leadership is not held by a title.  History books are full of people that had titles, but were terrible leaders.  The opposite is also true (examples like Eric Liddell and Harriet Tubman in John C. Maxwell's book "The Right to Lead" both come to mind).

3.  Leadership is the ability to influence &amp; create communities.  Many people have a desire to do the right thing, but they are afraid of doing it on their own.  However, we often contribute when others stick their neck out to set a framework for us to follow (think Mike Henry Sr. and the Lead Change group -- more specifically, this conversation).

4.  Leadership is OTHER focused.  As you pointed out Erin: "A core component of great leadership lies in the foundation of your intent as a leader. Is it to build others or to elevate yourself? The answer to that question says a lot about the leader."  In my opinion, great leaders succeed BECAUSE they make those around them successful, and they aren't afraid to recognize it.

5.  Leadership is humble, and yes, vulnerable.  Great leaders know that they are not perfect, and they willingly admit it.  Showing their weaknesses simply helps others understand and relate to them.  Such leaders don't waste energy hiding their mistakes with blame or false accusations towards others.  Indeed, they empathize and build others up in order to foster trust, creativity, innovation, and results.

Books I highly recommend on this subject:

"Love Leadership" by John Hope Bryant
"Aspire" by Kevin Hall
"The Leader Who Had No Title" by Robin Sharma
"You Don't Need a Title to Be a Leader" by Mark Sanborn
"The Right to Lead" by John C. Maxwell

To conclude, I humbly submit that we need leaders from a diverse set of circumstances and backgrounds.  I am grateful for leaders that didn't wait for someone to give them a title or tell them they had enough experience before they started serving others . . . leaders like:

1.  Barbara Fredrickson, professor and author of "Positivity"
2.  Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos
3.  Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon
4.  Stephen R. Covey, originally a researcher that published his findings in the book "7 Habits"

and so many more . . .

This doesn't dismiss the fact that there are fake gurus (some with titles way beyond their capability), and they are pervasive in every industry and place in life.  However, REAL Leaders don't need a title in order to do the right thing, they don't do it for their own glory, and they don't wait before they serve others.  They just lead.