It’s an interesting definition thinking about
and understanding leadership in relation to the voluntary sector. It's a challenge
to think in terms of leadership as a practice and not as an individual. In my
experience, having a leader to drive change, improvement and ideas is crucial. Agreed, collaboration is essential in any organisation,
change and improvements will only happen if people work together towards a
common goal and everyone buys in. Political
practices is not a term that I have heard used often but having read about this
more, I understand the need for leaders to have the skills, values, beliefs and
commitments both within and beyond the organisation’s boundaries to make sure
that the organisation makes an impact.
I strongly agree that a good leadership is
about providing energy and direction.
My definition would
be:
Leadership is
collaborative, participative practice of identifying issues that matter
and providing vision, inspiration, energy, critical engagement and empowerment
to solve them.