Leadership in business has been a patently uncomfortable term to define in precise vocabulary, a job made no easier by the proliferation of debates and points of view about it.  The trouble with capturing the essence of it is additionally compounded by two things.  First, most outstanding examples of leaders, contemporary or historic, in politics or in business, exhibit a stunning degree of individual variety and their key to success was based on different personality traits, adequate to the demands of their time. Second, not even the most careful dissection of their careers manages to reveal all there was to achieving greatness, since they seem to be endowed with some inexplicable quality on top of their discernible skills- some call it luck, others vocation, others still providence.  In his attempt to contribute to this ongoing approximation towards the ultimate definition of leadership, Robert Joss, Dean of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, recounts a line from Jack Welch's speech to students when he said that leadership is essentially not about leaders, but about people they lead.  It might sound like rediscovering the wheel, but it is a conclusion that cannot be omitted in executive leadership training.

It is never an accident for a professional to make it to the top of the organizational structure, since it typically comes as a reward for hard work, talent and determination.  However, this much-anticipated step up in the company hierarchy brings about a substantial transformation of responsibilities that cease to be merely cooperative and usher a number of challenges that go together with managing groups of people.  As Robert Joss reiterates after Jack Welch, this is when the need for recalibrating priorities is putting young managers to crucial tests that they have to be ready to deal with.  No longer are their results dependent entirely on their own output or their collaboration with employees sharing their level of responsibility, rather they are now closely correlated to how well they can motivate, inspire and influence teams that look up to them for guidance.  It is a major departure from a self-centered working style that comes naturally for some and requires support, in the form of dedicated executive leadership programs, for others.

But it is not only about the newcomers to the trade of leading organizations.  In fact, recent decades have seen the status and prominence of business leaders attain higher and higher rank, although with some notable exceptions, furthering the notion that successful leadership is a fast lane to a near-celebrity standing.  It may well be so, but regrettably by elevating top executives to fame, the media spotlight overlooks their true strengths, which lie not in their individual stardom and visibility, but in their ability to cultivate their teams on a regular basis in ways that ensure successful operation of their businesses. This is why executive leadership programs, in a bid to reach back to the core of the art of being a leader, are well advised to put employees first.