Recognizing All Stages of Leadership at Work

The video below was not the inspiration for this entry; I was looking for other ways of stating what I mean to say, that there are levels of leadership from the bottom to the top of any workplace. In particular, Mark Sanborn mentions that a job title does not, by itself, make a great leader. In fact, lack of a title and exhibiting leadership qualities if often a more respectable position to be in because people are following simply because of a person's initiative and determination to progress in a given situation.

I personally gave up giving myself a title a few years ago. I wanted to have some sort of title to live up to and be respected for, but in looking back at my history of 'things I do', I felt it was appropriate to avoid any one title and just go by my name. Instead of telling people what I do by way of title, I explain in terms of my mission statement because it represents my life's work rather than just what I do during the day, which for me includes seemingly wide and varied activities, but they do adhere to a central theme.

No matter what title a person is given at work, it must be realized that leadership begins at the bottom and works it's way to the top, or at least varying levels in between, depending on an individual's initiative. If you have the initiative and determination, others will follow your lead because of your ideas rather than of your title and there is less chance of mutiny if your ideas are sound and respectable.