Real Leaders Get Real About Leadership

Alan Webber, cofounder of Wired magazine and former editor at Harvard Business Review, published a great book last year: "Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self." Since this week's posts are about leadership, here is Webber's Rule # 41:

If you want to be a real leader, get real about leadership.

Leadership isn't attached to any single job title. It doesn't come with a diploma, a degree, or a program. Leadership is a way of thinking and acting, a way of being and doing.

If you want to get real about leadership, you can boil it down to four things:

• How leaders are - confident and modest, authentic, and good listeners
• What leaders do - attract and grow talent, lead by example, and challenge others to do their best
• How leaders act - give others guidance, not answers
• What leaders leave behind them - passion, a great team, and most importantly, more leaders

How are you doing at the real work of leadership?