In the context of our ongoing development as managers and leaders, the concept and principles of leadership are often addressed. We often look at what leadership is, but how about what leadership is not. Of the many things leadership is not, two primary factors may rise to the top.

First, leadership is not necessarily focusing on just an individual. This, at first, may seem like a contradiction because people are leaders. We often point to those in history that exhibited leadership qualities. We may also think back in our own lives to individuals that personally imprinted a positive impression on us as leaders. That’s OK. But charismatic people in business and government have also misguided their workers and followers into disastrous circumstances even though they were looked upon as leaders. And when a group of people, like a work team, have a connection to an individual leader that is so much stronger than the connection to other factors such as mission, common goals and values, then when the leader disappears, so does the cohesion, and the team simply falls apart.

Second, leadership is not authority. Though a manager’s position may give him, or her, the authority to carry out certain decisions, policies and procedures, it does not empower leadership qualities. Those qualities come from the abilities a person has and the skills that have been learned, not from a job description.