While preparing to conduct a recent leadership workshop, I came across a Forbes article claiming over 800 definitions for the word “leadership”. The author hones in on five definitions he feels the reader should know and provides his justifications. They’re decent; check out the article if interested.
After I read the article, the gears in my head started to turn, but not necessarily because I was drawn to figure out how many definitions there are for the word, or to determine if I agreed with the five he chose to illustrate, but because I became curious as to how many different concepts may define the word.
I decided I would conduct an experiment during the workshop. (That’s always a scary proposition; trying something live for the first time with actual participants and no safety net, but I think it went well. You can decide for yourself below).
I asked the group of leaders in attendance to write a list of words they associated with the word “leadership”. The words could be conceptual, emotive, concrete, tangible, ethereal, etc… I found their responses quite insightful and wanted to share them.
The words that appear larger were mentioned more frequently.
What do you think?
Do you agree with the concepts these leaders put forth?
What would you add?
What would you make larger or smaller?
