<em>When I ask you for a definition of leadership, what would you say? As a leadership community do we need a definition? Can we agree on a "best" definition?</em>

<em>It seems there are no shortage of definitions of leadership.  But can we create any consensus on the best definition?  What defines leadership in a way that inspires agreement in the majority?  That's a question Susan Mazza addressed in a blog post from February 2009. The question still remains.  Her title:</em>
<h2>The Best Definition of Leadership</h2>
…does not exist.

There is not one agreed upon definition in the world despite how much leadership has been studied and written about. <!--more-->As of today 316,641 results returned when searching Amazon for books on leadership. According to Warren Bennis in Leaders (1997) “academic analysis has given us more than 850 definitions of leadership”. I think it is fair to say that defining leadership will be studied and debated for a long time to come and it is likely we will never all agree on THE BEST definition.
<h4>Although that is the question I have been asked and challenged about the most.</h4>
A very good friend even wrote to me having spent a good deal of time reading what I wrote, thinking and searching the internet trying to help me do a better job of defining leadership. The definition I offered in one of my posts was “Translating vision into reality” by Warren Bennis. Yet she strongly believes that “Vision is not a catalyst for leadership.” Essentially the definition I had offered in her worldview was just wrong. Yet the most interesting thing of all was that everything she said to make her point completely validated what I was trying to say to begin with about leadership and leading.
<h4>Could a definition actually be getting in the way?</h4>
Perhaps offering a definition of leadership was a mistake. Not because I offered a “wrong” definition. Warren Bennis is well known as an expert in this field so it certainly wasn’t wrong. But because I tried to define something that perhaps cannot be adequately expressed with the simplicity and accuracy expected from the definition of anything.
<h4>So why do we keep trying to define it?</h4>
People expect you to be able to define the thing you are writing about or teaching. It is a valid expectation so naturally I have offered one. But definitions rarely help you understand and/or do the very thing you are trying to define. For example, I can define balance, but does that help me to achieve the balance necessary to ride a bicycle? In the case of leadership I have never seen a definition that has helped anyone instantly know how to lead.

What do we seek when we ask for a definition? I think we are seeking “the truth” about it. Yet trying to define leadership is a bit like trying to define beauty: it has many interpretations, although we know it when we see it. It is also said that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. In fact, beauty does not look the same in all cultures. And perhaps neither does leadership. This points to the power of context in shaping our interpretations of “truth” about anything, including leadership.
<h4>What could be more useful than a definition?</h4>
The notion of a “random act of leadership” is my attempt to take leadership out of the realm of theory and develop a rich context for leading that can give EVERYONE access to leading in their day to day work and lives. My purpose is not to define leadership. It is to empower more people to see and seize opportunities to lead more readily and more often in everyday work and life. My focus is on identifying the actions of leading so we can do it more and make a bigger difference ourselves rather than waiting for “the” leaders to make things happen.
<h4>So now what?</h4>
I say we create a context for leadership that helps us see opportunities to lead – to take actions that will make a difference in the things that matter to us. So I invite you to start thinking about and sharing your context for leadership. The question I’ll use to start the inquiry is this:

<em><strong>What does leadership look like to you?</strong></em>

<em>One other note... Susan's blog, Random Acts of Leadership, was just recognized as a Top Human Resources Blog by the folks at Online MBA.  Visit her blog for the her most recent thoughts on demonstrating leadership through everyday actions.</em>

<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by <a title="Ducks by pedrosimoes7 on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/1301014184/">pedrosimoes7</a></span>