The CEO of Ace® Hardware on Leadership
I asked the CEO of the largest home improvement franchise company in the world, Ace® Hardware, what others saw in him as a leader. He started talking about definitions.
Define what leaders do if you want to lead.
Three Definitions of Leadership:
- Leaders take people where they could not go on their own.
- “Leaders rally people toward a better future.” Marcus Buckingham
- Leaders galvanize people to want to do what must be done.
Leaders instigate forward-facing movement. You have to go somewhere to lead. You aren’t just taking a walk.
John Venhuizen in his own words (2:48):
The leader’s journey:
John both likes and dislikes the term journey.
“I worry about the term journey because it can give people the impression of aimless meandering.” John Venhuizen
John in his own words (1:17):
Leadership is a journey of constant learning.
The challenge to learning is busyness. Some leaders don’t take time to develop themselves because they’re busy leading.
The journey of leadership is enhanced and sustained by self-development. What are you doing to develop your leadership?
Be as diligent about learning how to lead as you are about leading. Anything less shortens your reach and lessens your impact.
How do you define leadership?
What might you do to develop your leadership today?
**Like many growing organizations Ace works to develop people. The Ace Center for Excellence is launching a new workshop titled, “Leadership Lessons.”
Dear Dan,
I define leadership with four I- initiate, influence, inspire and impact. Leaders always initiate actions to achieve greater goals. They influence surroundings-inside and outside. They inspire their people to do better with greater commitment and dedication. They show the clear picture of future where everyone believe and align themselves. They create positive impact on people, process and performance.
I also believe that leaders inspire (not motivate). When you inspire, it leads to motivation but without any transactional benefits unlike managers. Motivation can not always lead to inspiration but opposite always holds true. My way of looking at leadership is creating, encouraging and defining. First thing is to create culture based on trust. Second thing is encouraging them to put effort to achieve well defined goals. It includes surpassing territory and winning beyond boundary. Defining is about creating everyone identity where each one can feel respected and recognised. In my view, this is leadership.
Thank you Dr. Gupta. Love the four “I’s”. They capture the heart of leadership.
It’s great to see you agree with the idea that inspiration is better than motivation. I’ve come to the place of suggesting that leaders remove motivate from their vocabulary and replace it with inspire.
>> How do you define leadership? <<
Helping others recognize and live out all their God-given potentials….
Thanks Ken. Yes indeed. I’ve been thinking a lot about spotting and maximizing potential. Great topic
Leadership is inspiration and inspiring others.If you are not inspiring others then you are not a leader.
Thanks lalitbhojwani. That’s powerful.
THanks Dan as usual great post.
Love all the comments so far.
I love the idea of journey though it can be hackneyed and overused – mindful meanderings ignited by deep desires.
Thanks Clara. “Mindful meandering,” now that’s interesting. I like the idea of a goal as well. Perhaps we can’t predict the path but there’s still a destination of some kind.
Hi Dan. As usual another great post. Really liked this one. Thanks for sharing.
I also really like the comments so far. The one thing missing here for me is humility. Humility does not seem to carry that active forward moving sense of drive that leadership embodies, yet to me, added to those elements, it is core in making it all happen. Thoughts?
Thanks again for a great post.
Thanks Dan, I will take note on using the term inspire than motivate. Good stuff
Hello Dan.
What is the meaning of humility in leadership term ?