Leadership is one of those funny things. In saying that, I mean that there are no concise definitions for the term. The idea of leadership is somewhat nebulous. Some leaders are made, some leaders are born, some have leadership thrust upon them. I know that's not the quote, but you understand the reference.
In this five-part series, I'm not going to give you a definition of leadership. I'm not even going to try to come up with one on my own, because your idea of leadership is exactly that, YOURS. My only hope is that my ideas can help you better understand your idea of leadership.
Part 2: What is achievement? And what does it have to do with leadership?
Google will tell you that achievement is the "process or fact of achieving something". As I said last time, this lends virtually no hand to our purpose here. We are seeking a deeper meaning because we have to tie achievement into leadership.
The idea of achievement varies wildly from person to person. Simply waking up and getting out of bed in the morning can be an achievement to one person (maybe many people). Some would look at this "completed task" and never whisper achievement. Whichever category you fall into, and you may not fit either of these categories, it is important to NOT think about achievement as simply "completed tasks".
Take that last statement with a grain of salt. If you wake up one day and finally reach your goal weight after three years, or finally get promoted after countless 60+ hour weeks, that is definitely an achievement. However, both of those things are not simply "completed tasks". They are the product of a series of interconnected events, highs, and lows, successes, and failures.
Here we can see achievement for what it really is, arriving at the desired result. Each of us has different results. As above, the person who wanted to lose weight only feels a sense of true accomplishment when he or she achieves their desired result, being goal weight. The person who works countless 60+ hour weeks only feels true achievement when he or she achieves their desired result, being a promotion.
Thinking of achievement this way, as arriving at the desired result, allows us to better think about it in a context of leadership. Without the idea of achievement, what would leadership really be? There would be a group of people who have no common goal, no desired result. No products would be produced to satisfy consumer wants and needs. No art would be created to provoke emotion in the viewer.
Achievement is crucial to leadership. As a leader, one must have a sense of achievement in order to prove effective. One must have the desired result, often before setting out. I would argue that in its most basic form, achievement is needed to create leaders in the first place. Without the desired result of becoming a leader and bettering oneself, there would be no leaders.
And where would we be in a world without leaders?
Achievement is necessary to accomplish our goals and meet new challenges head-on. We must have clear desired results before we set off on our quest, regardless of where those desired results may take us.
If you find yourself in a tunnel, not seeing a light, step back (so the train doesn't hit you) and assess what that light at the end of the tunnel really is. Doing this will allow for a clearer picture of your purpose and inform your thinking.
