What Is Business Leadership

Much has been said about business leadership. It has often been discussed by entrepreneurial gurus, and has become the subject of many profitable books and seminars that corporate people are crazy about. Ask anyone about it, and you would probably get so many answers, all of which might probably be right. Leadership is such an interesting subject that everyone seems to want to discuss it and have it.

Most people are emotionally charged when asked to define leadership; after all, leaders are always looked upon with glamour and grandeur. People who aspire to be leaders often just copy the actions and behavior of admired leaders without knowing what it really means to be a good leader. Some think it is a talent one is born with, some think it is a skill that can be acquired. Either way, leadership, particularly business leadership has a straightforward and simple meaning. Leadership is the ability to influence others. Business leadership is therefore the ability to influence others at work.

Oftentimes, people think of complicated ways to define business leadership. However, the bottom-line is that business leadership is the power to make people at work follow. This could be done through several ways and by many means. The important matter is that when one knows the definition of leadership, one would also know how to be a leader. Knowing what business leadership is can help one identify the goal to reach, which is to influence others.

A lot of aspirants think that leadership is about reaching the highest ranks or achieving elevated positions. This has created what is now known as the bureaucratic tendency; they strive to rise among others only for the sake of being on top. Employees at the bottom of the hierarchy often believe that leadership is about being promoted or being among the top management. While getting high positions are among the many perks of business leadership, escalation is not the end all and be all of leadership.

This is why a lot of managers who got hasty promotions fail. Once on top, they do not know what exactly to do. They are not aware that the point of being on top is to be able to let other follow – to take charge and influence others to be part of the success of the entire organization. When one’s goal in becoming a business leader is only about gaining fame and recognition, the position might easily be taken away. Being on top but not being able to influence others will make the ones at the bottom lose confidence on the leader. In this case, the position can be withdrawn as leadership cannot be sustained since the point of being a leader was not there in the first place.

Business leaders have different techniques of influencing their followers. Some use force and coerce employees to do their work by wielding power. Some use their charms to inspire workers to be enthused with their jobs. Some persuade personnel by showing them the potential merits of good efforts. There are other ways that business leaders use to influence their charges but the important thing is that they are able to make people to follow them.

Business leadership cannot be acquired quickly, however it is also not impossible to achieve. With the correct knowledge of what business leadership is and the appropriate techniques to implement it, one can achieve business leadership and exercise it accordingly.