But what exactly is survey validation, and why is it so important?

The American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education’s book titled Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing defines validity as “The degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores entailed by the proposed used of tests.  Validity is therefore the most fundamental consideration in developing and evaluating tests” (1999).

But lets take this to the layman’s level.

Validation is defined by Dictionary.Com as “To establish the soundness of; corroborate.”  Their technology-specific definition says that validation is, “The stage in the software life-cycle at the end of the development process where software is evaluated to ensure that it complies with the requirements.”

At its core, survey validation is using analytical techniques to make sure the instrument is reliable and accurate in measuring the intended goal of the survey.

A validated survey instrument means that, based on that survey’s results, individuals and organizations can make reliable strategic decisions about where to focus their development efforts.  The organizations can have confidence that the survey is accurately measuring the things that it is supposed to measure, and that the results can indicate the direction the individual or organization should take.

How can you tell if the tool you are using is validated?  It’s simple: ask.  Look for a vendor that touts its validation (shameless plug to our own surveys).  If you can’t find anything about validation on the tool’s website, call and ask a customer service representative. Just make sure the data that you will be collecting actually means something, and isn’t off-the-mark.

If you use a validated tool, you’ll know that you are using a system that will be worth the money, time, and effort it takes to complete a 360 survey. Coaches will then be able to use this relevant information to create change in your company culture and produce better leaders, better management, and higher productivity.

So after exploring the importance of validation, do you see how vital it is for an effective evaluation and coaching program?  We do.  That’s why we’ve invested hours into making sure our surveys pass the test.  We believe in the essential role of validation in surveys—and  we hope you do, too.

When he died [earlier this summer], Robert Byrd, who was a frail 92, had represented West Virginia in the Senate for more than 50 years. Is it generally a good idea for top leaders in any sector to serve that long, or that late in life? Given the common instinct to hang on, should limits be imposed?

Thinking about this definitely creates a tough inner dialogue.  For some leaders, their lifetime of experience makes them worth their weight in gold.  They also deserve respect for the time they have dedicated to the organization and the insight they provide. Previously weathering an organization’s ups and downs offers reassurance to younger, less experienced workers who may doubt job security or who are unsure of the future.  Older and more experienced team members can also offer counseling in times of stress, direction when there is none, or reassurance that no matter what happens in the office, life will go on.

On the other hand, keeping a “lame duck” leader doesn’t benefit anyone.  Especially old or frail leaders may be easily manipulated, or they may be unable to handle the tasks assigned to them, leading to resentment and inner-office turmoil.  They may be unable to actually lead their subordinates, who may feel lost or forgotten by their superiors.  Without a leader, the organization will become less and less productive and innovative.
George Washington addressed this situation when he declined a third term in office, favoring new blood instead of a constant single leader.  Granted, most organizations are not under the sort of peril the young United States was during this time, but ushering in a new set of eyes, ideas, and talents can benefit an organization.  What would George say about the late Sen. Robert Byrd? Would he disapprove of such a long term, or would the circumstances call for a different evaluation where length could be beneficial?

The pros and cons of an “aging leader” leave us with one slightly uncomfortable option:  Leaders must be evaluated on an individual basis.  In this evaluation, they must be compared to the same standard as all other employees. This allows those still-functioning leaders to continue their work, while ensures that those who may be slipping in their duties are made aware of their weaknesses.

It takes a strong and dedicated leader to know when they should retire their post to the next generation.  It shouldn’t be difficult to pass the baton—everyone grows older, and age is something that we can’t escape.  Yet many leaders still hang on to their positions for too long, hurting their subordinates and coworkers.
So why don’t we all endeavor to become aware of our own strengths and weaknesses, and pledge to identify when we too have become “aged leaders?”  It’s going to happen; we just need to be able to identify it.  This ensures the best for our organization and for us, the guarantee of leaving on a high note, and best yet, possibly an earlier retirement.
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Originally dark colored fish living in the rice paddies of Siam (now Thailand), selective breeding has developed the vibrant and colorful fish sold in American pet stores today. These fish are perfect for beginners, as they are extremely hearty and entertaining when they flare their fins. But who knew they offered lessons on office leadership? Follow along to explore the negatives and the positives when it comes to being an office “beta.”

The Bad

Betas don’t play well with others
Beta fish don’t work well with other fish. They have to have their own tanks and can’t be put with other fish. Beta fish, when included in aquariums with other fish, are aggressively dominant. If they are forced into an interaction with another fish, they’ll kill it—or at least beat it up until the other fish is severely distressed. They will become the “Alpha Fish” at all costs, and create a culture of fear within any tank housing any other fish besides the beta.

Think about your work environment. Does one of your superiors or co-workers act like the “beta fish” at the office? Does he or she assert dominance in every situation? A quick way to figure this out simply is to ask, “How many other employees has this person made cry? Are the majority of people in our office scared of this person?” Finally, ask “Does this person work well in teams, or are they overly aggressive when it comes to ideas and decisions?” These are good ways to figure out if you are dealing with an office “beta fish.”

They Freak out when threatened
One of the attractive things about buying a beta fish is their tendency to “puff up” when threatened. I’ll admit, I’ve enjoyed putting my finger up to the side of the tank to watch ZoZoBo puff out his gills, beautiful fins, and tail to display his impressive size and beautiful colors. The reason behind this is because he feels threatened by my finger/a mirror/anything that looks like it could be another fish. He is extremely territorial, and is willing to fight at the drop of a hat if he feels threatened.

How do your managers react when they feel threatened by people, ideas, or situations? Do they automatically “puff up” and become aggressive and defensive? Or do they take a moment to assess the situation and use others’ input to come up with a sensible solution? Good managers won’t react like a beta—they will logically determine the best answer using the resources they have around them—including other people.

The Good

They are curious and observe the people around them
Betas are curious creatures. They like to observe the things around them, and have been documented by beta researchers (sounds like an interesting job…) to “watch” their human caretakers. They can even be trained to respond to basic hand motions, i.e. Human holding their hand over the tank= I get food so I need to come to the surface. While simple, these observations can be seen as extraordinary for fish, which on average have a 10-15 second memory (or so my biology teacher told me).

Thinking about your management team, do they observe their employees? What about your organization’s culture? Could they tell you the name of the intern in the corner under the staircase? What about the current state of your secretary’s ailing mother? Or how your coworker likes his coffee in the morning? A little bit of observation goes a long way. Connecting to people by knowing specifics about their life, likes, and dislikes will allow you to create more meaningful bonds as well as evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, and productivity.

They can Survive Pretty Much Anything
I had a beta fish in college. This thing lived through everything—and I mean EVERYTHING. Its bowl was located next to a window that got frigid in the winter and very warm in the summer. I dropped it into the sink when I was changing its water. My boyfriend at the time dropped it a second time while I was changing its water. One time I accidentally filled its bowl with hot water instead of room temperature water. This fish also regularly made a 7-hour road trip up the East Coast whenever I needed to go home—usually he looked a little pale afterwards, but he always bounced back. One time I left it at school over a break, and it survived. Basically, this thing was SUPERFISH.

How well do your employees bounce back after a crisis? Can they handle unusual situations, or do you as a superior have to step in to ensure chaos does not ensue? You want employees who can weather the storms of the economy, office life, and the industry. Sure, they might need a little recovery time after a crisis, but they should be able to regain their color and come back with knowledge that will make them more vibrant employees than ever.

The fish that inspired this post

We’ve enjoyed our time with little ZoZoBo, and are still entertained by his antics. There is something relaxing about watching a fish—albeit an aggressive one—swim around. Maybe your office should invest in a beta; not only is it a great way to zen out your office community, but it’s a daily reminder of how and how not to act in the workplace.

Pick a winning partner

In doubles tennis, it is important to have a partner who can help achieve your goal of winning the match.  In leadership development, it is important to pick a partner who can help you achieve your goals of personal development.  By “partner” we mean a couple of things.

1.)    A great evaluative tool.  Playing at Wimbledon with a shoddy racket would create a serious disadvantage to the person using it.  Using a racket that matched your needs gives a more accurate picture of your playing abilities. Personal development is the same: using an instrument that will not fully evaluate your skill set will present you with a serious disadvantage.  To truly see where you need to improve, evaluation is key.  This is why we like 360 degree feedback so much.  Three-sixty degree feedback provides the opportunity to acquire information from all those around you to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, and areas of opportunity.  We tend to fool ourselves on self-evaluation surveys, so allowing others to take part means a more honest look.  Choosing a tool provider is important, too.  Make sure that the company you chose has a record of success and can provide both survey validation as well as comparisons to industry norms.  Without anything with which to compare yourself, how will you know where you fall?

2.)    A companion who can keep you on track. This person is your “check” if they see you engaging in “backsliding” behaviors.  They can push you to run the extra mile, encourage you put forth that extra bit of effort, or help you up when you slip and fall.  They will be your companion while running that last lap, chanting your name as you cross the finish line—and making it easier to achieve your goal.

Partner with a good coach

Any consistently successful sports team has a great coach behind them.  The coach will ensure the functionality of the team, and will give crucial observations and feedback that will ensure the continual growth of the team and its players.  Finding a good coach is important for personal development as well.  A good coach can interpret individual strengths and weaknesses, identify opportunities for advancement and honing of certain skills, and prioritize certain areas of development over others.

Practice!

The saying goes, “Great leaders are not born, they are created.”  Creation of a great leader—as well as a great sports player—requires lots of practice.  Some skills will come easier to certain people; some skills will be more difficult to acquire. Practice will ensure that no matter how fast you learn, you will achieve your goal.

Play to win

Don’t approach personal development half-heartedly.  You will get out of it only what you invest into it.  Before starting a personal development plan, make sure you are aware of the work you will need to put in to achieve your goals, and then attack them with vigor.

After-the-match recap

Re-evaluation as to how far you’ve come is key.  At TBC like to follow up our 360 feedback with what we call 720 feedback®.  720 Feedback® provides a comparison of a participant’s results over a period of time, often 12-18 months. This comparison informs participants of their developmental progress and gives them an opportunity to update and change their individual development plan.  Because to truly get the most out of a personal development plan, one must keep a continual watch on their skills and competencies to ensure they are actually improving.

The next time you stumble across a Wimbledon match on TV, take a moment to look closer at the players, the coaches, and their tools.  They have become their best by using the best—are you?

We’re going to compare this phase of the Task Cycle® to something most people know and love:

Ice Cream.

Soft, creamy, chunky ice cream in any flavor your imagination desires.  Think chocolate chip cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, strawberry, moose tracks, triple caramel chunk, rocky road, toffee—and my newest strange discovery, chocolate bacon (I know, bizarre, right?).  So visualize your favorite ice cream and hold it in your mind, because we’re going to spend the next few paragraphs enjoying it.

Granted, there are some of us who don’t like the effects that ice cream has on us, i.e. those of us who are lactose intolerant.  So for our friends who can’t eat ice cream, imagine this analogy with a nice cone full of sherbet or sorbet.  I prefer rainbow sherbet, but you may prefer a nice peach-mango sorbet.  It’s up to you.

We are going to explore the idea of Phase V of the Task Cycleâ, which is “Monitoring and Adjusting the Process.”  We’ve talked a lot about setting up your development process, and stressed the importance of establishing a strong purpose and setting up a strong foundation.  In “ice cream terms,” establishing your purpose was determining your hunger and deciding on your flavor.  We’re at an old-fashioned ice cream shop—none of that soft serve stuff.  There are many flavors and topping choices, so determining your  best combination takes time and careful thought (and possibly some input from a friend!).  Your “foundation” is your ice cream cone (my favorite kind is a waffle cone).  When you received your cone, both you and the ice cream scooper probably checked to make sure that it was in one piece, and that no chunks were taken out of it.  You needed to make sure there was a strong foundation on which to place your ice cream.  With no apparent problems, you head out the door and into the outdoors, completely satisfied and ready to munch away.

It is extremely hot outside.  Your ice cream begins to slowly melt, and you quickly move to lick around the cone where the melting is fiercest.  As you enjoy your ice cream, you must constantly monitor the cone for drips and adjust your hold to attack rogue melts.  Suddenly, your friend/mentor (who recommended the treat and helped decide your flavor) points out a problem with your cone—there is a hole in the bottom, and precious ice cream is dripping out of the cone and onto the street (and your new pants).

Luckily, you have only made it one block from the ice cream shop.  You quickly head back, hoping for a solution that can save your ice cream.  After consulting with the girl behind the counter, she offers an effective tweak to the cone’s structure:  she offers you an M&M to place in the bottom of the cone to act as a stopper, preventing ice cream leakage.  You adjust your cone by taking off the ice cream, inserting the M&M, and replacing the ice cream on top.  After wiping off the several drops of melted ice cream from your pant leg, you are as good as new (even better, because now you have an M&M to look forward to at the end of your cone).  Happily, you head off down the street to your next destination with your friend/mentor with time to spare.

This extended metaphor is to explain in simple terms the reason for and importance behind monitoring and adjusting your development process.  If we had just ignored the drip in our cone, we would have ended up covered in melted ice cream and we would have lost about half of our sweet treat to our pants.  By the time we got to our intended destination, we would look a mess and have to spend time valuable time cleaning the sugary treat off of our pants.  And everyone knows that no matter how much friends may deny it to make you feel better, wet spots on your pants do make you look like you wet yourself.

By taking our friend/mentor’s observation seriously, we circumvented a major crisis and avoided personal embarrassment in the process.  A small adjustment ensured that we were able to continue to our next destination while enjoying our ice cream cone, now fully functioning.

Apply this to your personal development process.  Continually monitor and adjust your hold on your development progress in order to catch any slip-ups or weak areas.  Let your mentor or another outside source make observations to help you.  Listen to them, and in the case of a foundational error, turn to an expert: an HR professional, a superior, a mentor, a co-worker, or a personal development coach.  They will have the experience to tweak your issue in a way you may not have considered.  Their help will allow you to stay on track without losing face or valuable time.  Remember, this is their job—they’ve probably handled something like this before.

And remember: after all of your hard work when you do achieve your personal development goals, reward yourself with a nice, cold, refreshing cone of ice cream.  Get two scoops if you want.  We won’t tell anyone.

Imagine that you are back in first grade. You get to color for a grade, recess, and a never-ending supply of juice and pretzels for snack.  Life is good.  At “reading time”, you are finally learning how to read, and are practicing by reading aloud to the class from your textbook.  You stumble over some words, not sure what they mean, and say whatever word comes first to your mind.  This is normal for a first grader.  Its also normal for a teacher to provide feedback, corrections, and praise on your performance by correcting misspoken words, helping you sound out words when you struggle with pronunciation, or praising you for successful completion of your task.  After stumbling through some passages and cruising through others, you look to your teacher, who guided you through your mistakes and successes, and she provides a meaningful nod of approval for your hard work.  Those pretzels and juice taste oh-so-much sweeter now.

But what would happen if the teacher never provided feedback?  You’d continue reading, making the same mistakes, and sounding like a jumbled mess.  Some students, naturally adept at reading, would excel.  Others would struggle and fail.  All in all, most students wouldn’t learn too much—and would fail exams, state standardized tests, and never move up in grade level.

Now put yourself in your organization’s office.  You are doing everyday tasks, going about your workday with vigor and dedication.  Happily (even through it’s a Monday morning) you complete your daily tasks while providing a supportive environment for those around you. Your boss reinforces your positive behavior verbally or in an email, letting you know you’re doing a great job.  Maybe you even get an “Employee of the Month” award, or get taken out to coffee by your superior.  Either way, you are assured of your great performance and positive contribution to the organization, and in turn are driven to continue with your hard work.

Or perhaps it’s the other way around.  Imagine that you are providing your employers with a lackluster performance, dragging your feet and complaining.  You’re late to meetings, you fail at communicating effectively, or you simply cast a negative persona to coworkers and clients. This could be conscious, or this could be involuntarily due to outside influences or poorly developed organizational and leadership skills. Your superiors let you know that you are not fulfilling their expectations, and advise you to fix your behavior.

But what if neither office encounter happened?  The model employee, once full of excitement and passion for his job, loses motivation because of lack of recognition for his hard work.  The less-than-model employee continues his detrimental behaviors, and begins to effect productivity and the morale of those around him.  Where is the essential feedback from supervisors and peers that can mitigate these issues?  And how can either employee know what his or her employer is thinking without their feedback?

Clearly, in all stages of life, feedback is important.  Without feedback, we lose direction, focus, and motivation.  This is one more reason we at TBC are so fond of 360 Feedback surveys.  They allow feedback from all sides, never missing an aspect of character that one facet of a reviewer pool may not see.  We believe that through 360 feedback surveys and coaching, mediocre employees can become great employees, and top employees can become company leaders.

Check back this week for more information on how to give useful feedback!  Until then, read our blog post and article summary on “Ouch, that’s some earsplitting feedback!”

I was brainstorming to come up with an analogy or concrete way to discuss sustained effort when images from last night’s episode of “River Monsters” kept popping into my head.  I was folding a small mountain of laundry when Animal Planet’s show about the ferocious fish lurking in seemingly friendly bodies of water came on.  And I kept it on.  Because who doesn’t love a good river monster?  Anyway, the show follows host Jeremy Wade on his hunt to find these aquatic creatures, and chronicle the struggle he faces every trip.  So while brainstorming stream-of-consciousness style, I kept writing about the difficulties of sustained effort mixed with flashes of river monsters.  And then it clicked.  Jeremy Wade’s exhausting hunt to find his “monsters” translates into our Task Cycle®—and here’s how:

Make sure you’ve identified the “monster”—The first two steps of the Task Cycle® include Establishing a Purpose and Laying the Foundation.  Making sure that we have these two steps complete and making absolutely sure we have identified our purpose and created a steady foundation for change is essential for all other steps in the Task Cycle®.  After all, Jeremy Wade wouldn’t dive into the Amazon just to see what he could find.  He always has a prey in mind—and sticks to it.

Ask for help from locals and experts—When Wade gets to a new area, he interviews the experts on where to go.  We can take his advice and apply this to our sustained effort: make sure you ask for help from experts like leadership coaches, mentors, or trusted superiors to ensure you are headed in the right direction.

Continue upstream—It takes much more effort to head upstream that it is to float downstream.  Fighting the current—and the desire to simply float—exercises and builds “muscle” that will make your effort, over time, much easier.  Eventually, going upstream will be second nature, and you will be strong enough (in our case, mentally) not to even notice.

Push into the farthest and darkest reaches of your “jungle”—In order to find and conquer these ferocious creatures, Wade often steps into the farthest reaches of foreign lands.  Luckily for us, we don’t have to actually travel anywhere to continue and sustain our journey.  What we need to do instead is to look at ourselves, and continually look at our development critically by asking, “What needs to continue to change? What underlying issues are still present?  Why do I react this way to certain situations?”  Exploring these internal issues—some which may be buried deep in your own internal processes— throughout your efforts at development will ensure a more complete change…without hacking through the Amazonian brush.

Fight—Wade wouldn’t have a show without a little bit of fish wrangling.  After all, the show is called “River Monsters,” not “Finding Nemo.”  We must approach our situation with the same attitude. We aren’t going to just have our development “jump into our boat;” we must have patience, use the right tools, and be prepared to pull back and forth as we wrestle with the task at hand.
So don’t let go of the fishing pole, even when it seems like the easiest thing to do.  Sustain your hold on the issue, and don’t throw up your hands when things get difficult.  You may be annoyed with your coaches’ requests, doubting the effectiveness of personal development, or you could be tired of evaluating your strengths and weaknesses—there are many different reasons people give up.  But fighting for your own personal victory makes the end result that much sweeter, and can enhance your success in business and at home.

Notice I didn’t say “fearless leaders.”  That is an important distinction.  The truth is that the founding fathers were terrified of what was going to happen after the Declaration of Independence.  They could be charged with treason, hanged, tarred and feathered, stripped of their land and titles, forced into servitude, or executed for their disloyalty to the mother country.  Our founders, however, faced those punishments and took a risk. They knew in their guts what needed to be done for the wellbeing of their followers, recognized the potential consequences, and released their trembling shot into the dark.

Catherine Drinker Bowen, author of Miracle at Philadelphia, highlighted that these men were indeed unsure and terrified as they began their campaign to free America from Britain.  Using excerpts from their personal diaries and other historical documents, Bowen presents the writers of the Declaration and the Constitution not as untouchable super politicians, but as real human beings who were trying their best to create a positive change for those around them.  The founders were real people who were no closer to godliness than any other human being—they felt pain, sadness, anxiety, and insecurity.
It is in these pages that I realized that the founding fathers were leaders to a caliber that is few and far between today.  They were so selfless, so willing to put their own lives in danger for those who followed and depended on them. These men are a perfect example that fear doesn’t make you a bad leader.  What makes someone a bad leader is succumbing to fear.  Great leaders charge on in the face of adversity and refuse to allow fear to incapacitate them. Where would we be if our founding fathers had shied away from their challenge?  We wouldn’t be getting a three-day weekend, that’s for sure.

This Fourth of July lets take the time to honor those leaders who battled their fear and put everything on the line for the betterment of their followers.  I’ll raise a lemonade to that.

What do you think of when you imagine a foundation?  I think of a house being built. I go back to when I was in second grade and my parents were building the house we live in now; the smell of wood and drywall, the feel of mud as it squished through my flip-flops, the loud sounds of drills and saws and heavy machinery that I was told to never touch.  I remember the builders laying the foundation of the house and how they had to wait until the rain subsided, how they dug a deep trench and carefully created the outline of what would one day be our house.  When I think of foundations, I think of the one that sprang up from a possibility, a goal, a dream.

In a way, “laying a foundation” is very similar to laying the foundation for a house.  First, you must have your plan in place: your purpose.  Only then can you begin to dig the deep trenches that will hold your foundation.

The DIY network provided a great tutorial on how to lay the foundation for a house.  We adapted this tutorial for our own use and applied it to leadership development:

Pick a place
In order to lay a foundation for your purpose, you must establish where this change is going to take place.  This could be a physical place, such as “at the office” or “while I am at home,” or it could be less tangible, such as “whenever I am angry and stressed” or “whenever I am with my kids.”  This will give you a “reminder” every time you are in the situation to be especially cautious of your actions, words, etc.

Get someone else’s opinion
You wouldn’t begin to build a house without the opinion of a contractor, inspector, an official— anyone who was knowledgeable about building a house.  In the same way, you should get someone who knows about you to contribute to establishing your purpose (we talked about this last week) as well as laying a stable foundation.  Make sure this person is skilled in problem-analysis, and can understand short- and long-term planning. Talk to this person.  Take them to lunch. Listen to what they have to say about you and your purpose.  Are trying to go too big at first?  Can you enlarge the scope of your foundation?  Discuss this with them, and address how you might adjust or improve it.

Begin to “dig”
Dig deep.  This is more of a mental process, but it is essential to understand some things about you.  You could attack “digging” by addressing the 5WH questions:
Who am I talking about? (Usually yourself)
What do I need to improve?
When is a specific timeline that I can create to track my progress?
Where do I usually initiate this behavior?
Why do I usually act like this/what makes me act this way?
How can I address this behavior so I can improve?

Some of these questions seem simple, but attacking them in a standard order makes sure nothing gets left out.  Also, sometimes it is enlightening to address problems in this way; you might realize some seemingly obvious information you didn’t before!

Block off potential problems before they start
We all have them in our lives: Negative Nellies/Normans.  These are the people that drag us down, the people who tell us we can’t do it, or even the little voice in the back of our head that tells us our work will go unrewarded.  They are the coworkers that stand around and bash the attempts of others, or the moms on the sidelines at the soccer game who never fail to present the latest harmful gossip.  These people are not good for your mental health, and honestly not good for their own health, either.  These things nourish the negative thoughts and feelings that will seep in through the cracks to damage the foundation you so carefully laid.  So silence the naysayers, pull the plug on the “little voice’s” microphone, and seal out negative.  Change can happen, and will happen if you approach it correctly and with the right attitude.

Establishing a firm foundation is not only a key part of the Task Cycle®, but also a key life skill that will allow you to create achievable and meaningful goals that will drive personal development.

http://www.diynetwork.com/remodeling/a-strong-foundation-installing-the-foundation/index.html

Leadership.  It is a term thrown around like plastic beads at Marti Gras.  But what does it actually mean to be a leader?  What is the difference between a good leader and a bad one? An effective leader and one who fails?  At TBC, we are in the business of personal and leadership development.  As one of the first posts in our new social media initiative, we think it important to explore the true meaning of a leader.

Dictionary.com defines a leader as “one who leads—” a statement of the obvious.  Merriam-Webster offers the same definition. Urbandictionary.com, a lesser-known niche version of the tried-and-true dictionaries, provides a more telling definition:
“Someone who has the ability to inspire others to achieve tasks and goals that they might not otherwise be capable of reaching.”

Finally, the Macmillan Dictionary offers the definition:
“Someone who is responsible for or in control of a group, organization, country, etc.”

Finding most of these definitions unsatisfactory to the true meaning of a leader, we have combined them to create a definition of our own.  Our definition of a true leader is:

Someone who is responsible for or oversees of a group of people, who has the ability to inspire others to achieve tasks and goals they might not have otherwise been capable of reaching, and who can create positive change in a situation.

Lets dissect this statement piece by piece:

Someone who is responsible for:  If you are responsible for anything, you have a huge imperative to act morally and with character.

or oversees: Even though you may be in the driver’s seat, a true leader knows that he or she is never totally in control.  Overseeing ensures that you give your subordinates your confidence without completely leaving them on their own.

a group of people: These people should be just as important as (or even more important than) your superiors.  In an office situation, the relationship you have with your subordinates or group members can make or break a sale, job, or your image.  It is important to have an open relationship with those you lead, and to make ample room for their feedback on your performance.

who has the ability to inspire others to achieve tasks and goals they might not have otherwise been capable of reaching:  the ability to inspire others is what differentiates a “leader” from a “great leader.”  For example, Martin Luther King Jr. inspired a nation to fight against an unfair racial system; Mahatma Gandhi inspired politicians like Barack Obama along with celebrities like Matt Damon by using his peaceful tactics of civil disobedience to foster change; and Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin (whichever you prefer) inspired millions of little girls across the globe that they too, could run for office.
Sometimes, leaders have to be the first.  They must light the trail, shatter the glass ceiling, or face persecution for their beliefs.  But a true leader will not balk at the thought of going against the grain; instead, he or she will understand that their hard work will aid those they are responsible for.

and who can create positive change in a situation: This is perhaps the most important part of leadership.  True leaders contribute to positive mechanisms of change while disregarding the negative.  A leader must have control of a situation and not allow it to control his or her own emotions, as this almost always results in a negative outcome.  Inciting fear or anger does not create a healthy environment.  By creating a positive change, leaders not only help others, but they help themselves.

It takes a great deal of effort to be a good leader, and even more to be a great leader.  It takes a lot of personal development, asking those around you what you can do better, and dismissing of the ego to become the “great” leader trapped inside of you.  But the best thing is that you are totally capable of doing it. The question is, Are you ready?