What defines leadership?

Finally, after a month-long writer's block and an incredibly busy period at work, I'm back to blogging again. This post is going to be less about marketing, and more about management. I have been thinking about leadership lately, and what makes for great leadership. In trying to understand this, I have been asking myself one question: what is the true test of leadership? 

Leadership, obviously, can be viewed from many different perspectives. Different people view leadership differently. For some, leadership is about leading people and making things happen. While for others, leadership is about being followed and respected. Both these definitions are incredibly valuable.

As I said, different people view leadership differently. This is probably a function of one's own life experiences and own inherent leadership traits. Having said this, I view leadership differently too.

For me, leadership is about inspiration. A true leader must be able to inspire the people to do their best, and in doing so, unleash their true potential. Under true leadership, the creative potential and cumulative performance of the entire organisation grows. In my mind, this is, by far, the most difficult challenge of a leader.

To inspire others is hard. You can only inspire others, if you're inspired yourself. You can only make others passionate if you're passionate yourself. True leadership is about great emotional intelligence; it is about seeing and feeling what others can't see.

It is about making others think bigger than they thought they could, and in doing so, making them run faster than they ever could.