Leadership - Knowing, Doing, and Being

A search on google for the word "leadership" shows about 3820 million results and on Amazon, if you search for a book on "Leadership" you will get more than 60,000 books on this topic. In spite of such popularity, there is no single definition of leadership. Warren Bennis considered a pioneer in the field of Leadership studies said

“Leadership is like beauty: it’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.”

Warren Bennis

In the last few decades, the study of leadership has shifted from studying leadership traits of great leaders to the study of leaders behaviours and actions. The recent studies and experiments have also concluded that leadership can be learned. There is also a better understanding of the difference between the Manager/Management and Leader/Leadership. Both require different sets of skills and competencies which are complementary.

Nowadays most management institutes that offer an MBA have at least one course on Leadership. Some of the top universities have dedicated schools for the study of leadership. In spite of all the development and progress, there is still a need to develop this field to help the current leaders to lead and manage their team in the current complex world.

The first phase of learning leadership is to understand and study the principles and understand their application. This is the phase of "Knowing". In the second phase, the leader translates his/her understanding and insights into new behaviours, putting their learning into action. This is called the "Doing" part. Once the leader develops proficiency and these new leadership behaviours become part of their identity, it becomes their natural self-expression. This phase is "Being". Overall the "Doing" focuses on actions and "Being" gives the experience. The "Being" of leaders can be explored through ontological/phenomenological models.

In the technology world, the Agile movement has popularised the "Servant Leadership" concept developed by Robert Greenleaf. This is about being a leader without a title or formal designations.

Definitely "Leadership" is an intriguing subject and should be studied rigorously. Understanding "Leadership" is a serious professional and personal responsibility. Harvard Business School has published "Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice". It is a good reference book for any professional serious about studying leadership.

References and Acknowledgements

Warren Gamaliel Bennis (March 8, 1925 – July 31, 2014) was an American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership studies

Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice

By: Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=36889