We all have an Inner Simon

There are lots of words that fall into unthinking common usage.

Vision. Purpose. Negotiation. Commitment. Honour. Words that are used in routine ways without stopping to think about what they really mean.

In business, and many other areas leadership is often seen as something we get to when we run out of management titles. Something that is earned, a reward for good performance. Something that magically emerges at a certain level.

Just a moment's thought exposes that as complete horsefeathers. Leadership is an instinct, a way of being, character. It is something that can be developed, but not acquired with a job description. It is amplified by character and purpose.

It has a shadow side. Leadership can take us to dark places unless we are careful. Followership is an underestimated role.

Great leaders tend to have followers who think, and act accordingly.

Leadership is a willingness to be wrong in pursuit of something important.

It is about putting the whole of ourselves in the service of oth…