Andrew Romanov is a student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication earning both his bachelors and masters degrees concurrently. He hopes to work in the communications field internationally, and has spent time studying and working in Eastern Europe. Romanov has experience across several journalistic mediums, with specific focus on broadcasting.
Leadership is not so much an action as it is a quality. It is a quality that can be learned or inherited—a quality comprised of a certain factor perhaps too difficult to describe in words.
Leadership is not synonymous with seniority. There are plenty of business executives who have proven it does not take leadership to reach a certain pay grade. Leadership is not a managerial style or a personal trait. There are many examples of bossy and charismatic people who cannot effectively lead.
A leader has a vision, but knows how to empower others and maximize their effort to turn a vision into reality. A leader has influence, but does not use authority or power to reach a goal.
In the “Tao Te Ching,” Lao Tzu writes, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
That quote and others on leadership can be found here.
In an earlier version of this post, Lao Tzu was stated to have written “The Art of War” instead of the “Tao Te Ching.” Sun Tzu wrote “The Art of War.”
