What is Leadership?
Here is a definition of leadership from a Forbes magazine online article entitled, What Is Leadership? (Kruse, 2013):
DEFINITION: Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.
Notice key elements of this definition:
- Leadership stems from social influence, not authority or power
- Leadership requires others, and that implies they don’t need to be “direct reports”
- No mention of personality traits, attributes, or even a title; there are many styles, many paths, to effective leadership
- It includes a goal, not influence with no intended outcome
Does that definition resonate with you? Do you have another definition that you like better?
Let’s face it, there are many leadership paradigms in use all around us that have been built on hierarchical systems that are quite oppressive. Most of us have either worked within or interacted with a hierarchical system like this. Because of our exposure to these kinds of systems, we may have even unconsciously internalized that kind of paradigm as the only option for a leadership structure. The good news is that simply isn’t the case.
Throughout this training we have talked in-depth about harmful systems. These harmful systems all have a common thread–an imbalance of power; a few people at the top hold power over everyone else in a way that causes harm when that power is wielded. This kind of “power over” approach can show up in a small team or business as much as it can in a large organization like a healthcare system, educational setting, or a governmental body.
Now let’s look at a couple of alternative leadership paradigms.
Decolonizing Leadership
As we have explored elsewhere in this training, colonization and the persisting mindset of colonization has been devastating for our First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people in Canada. Unless intentionally built otherwise, our systems and structures here in Canada were formed with a colonial infrastructure. Colonized systems put the “self” at the center, seeking to gain and keep power for the self, whereas an Indigenous-centric mindset or organization focuses on interconnection. Colonialism is harmful for everyone, and a change in our approach to leadership is necessary in order for meaningful change to be possible.
The article Toward an Indigenous, Decolonizing School Leadership: A Literature Review (Khalifa, Khalil, Marsh & Halloran, 2019) provides five examples of decolonizing leadership principles:
…underlying values of leadership praxis enacted by Indigenous and minoritized school leaders from around the world. This theme highlights five expressions, or strands, of IDSL [Indigenous, Decolonizing School Leadership]: (1) the prioritization of self-knowledge and self-reflection, (2) the empowerment of community through self-determination, (3) the centering of community voices and values, (4) service based in altruism and spirituality, and (5) approaching collectivism throug