An Introduction to
Individual and Shared Leadership
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Historical Leaders
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Boot Camp Survival Tools for Dealing with Change
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Although each of us probably has some unique and individual ideas about what makes up a typical leader, many people would argue that a leader’s characteristics are not as important as his/her actions. In the module Historial Leaders, you’ll explore different types of leaders, and in the module Leadership Stylin', you’ll consider different leadership styles.

Many people would say that a leader is simply someone who demonstrates leadership.

In 1990, two men wrote a book about leaders and leadership titled The Leadership Challenge. The book has been very popular for more than a decade and has been republished several times in both hard cover and paperback versions. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner identified five basic aspects of being a typical leader, five things that all leaders should do in some form or another. They based their ideas on data collected from more than 10,000 leaders and more than 50,000 people who worked with the leaders. Their ideas apply to the business world as well as to non-profit organizations and community organizations, like 4-H and Cooperative Extension.

Kouzes and Posner identified five fundamental practices (or challenges) of successful leaders in today’s society:

(1) Challenging the process.
Leaders do not sit back and wait for something to do. They work with others around them to identify challenges within which they can work with others to make a difference. They seek out situations that could and should be better; they tackle problems and issues facing themselves, their families, their communities, and their society. We call the routine, the usual, or the current situation the "status quo." The status quo is what is and always will be unless someone, a leader, tries to change it or make it better. In challenging the process, Kouzes and Posner state that leaders challenge the status quo; they seek out challenging opportunities to change, grow, innovate, and improve themselves and their surroundings (you will explore the idea of change in another module). They experiment with new ideas and often take well-thought-out risks to achieve high goals. After all, as former United States President John F. Kennedy once said, “Only those who dare to risk greatly, achieve greatly.”

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(2) Inspiring a shared vision.
A vision is a positive, inspiring, and ideal mental image or “picture” of the future (again, you will explore the concept of a vision in another module). According to Kouzes and Posner, leaders must be forward-looking and focused on a positive future for the people they work with. This positive vision for the future should be uplifting and noble. But it cannot and should not be only the leader’s vision for the future. Leaders must work hard to attract other people who want to work together for a common purpose. Leaders are successful in attracting others to work with them by appealing to people’s values, interests, hopes, and dreams. Leaders listen to others’ ideas first, then share their own ideas second. Remember: The goal of this second leadership challenge is to inspire a shared vision, not just to get others to go along with the leader’s individual vision!

(3) Enabling others to act.
No person is an island. We live, study, work, and play in a society and culture in which we are constantly interacting with others. Likewise, no leader functions in a vacuum. Leadership is, by definition, a social function in which one person works with another (or others) to achieve a common goal (sound like a vision to you?) to improve people’s lives (remember challenging the status quo?). Kouzes and Posner describe how leaders encourage partnerships and collaborations by promoting cooperative goals and mutual trust among people. Leaders share information and resources with others in order to get things done. Leaders build teams and teamwork in which individual team members are strengthened and provided with opportunities to utilize their own individual leadership skills. A leader’s cheer should be “T! E! A! M! – Together, Each Accomplishes More!” You will learn a lot more about teamwork in other modules.

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(4) Encouraging the heart.
There are times when, even with our best efforts, things just do not go right, and the future does not look very positive. We all face deadlines set by other people, situations in which we do not have the money or materials to do what we would like to do, relationship challenges with our friends and family members – these and other challenges are just part of everyday life. But leaders help us move beyond these challenges and look to the bright side of issues and problems. They encourage us to keep on trying, no matter what the obstacles we face. Leaders value, appreciate, and take the time to recognize the contributions that individuals around them make toward the team’s goals, and they make the time to help all team members celebrate those contributions. As Kouzes and Posner state, leaders make everyone feel like a hero.

(5) Modeling the way.
An old cliché goes something like this: “It’s easy to talk the talk, but much harder to walk the walk!” Leaders must do both. They must believe in and be able to communicate the shared vision of and cheer on a group working together toward that vision. And, as leaders, they must set examples for others to follow and serve as role models for the group. Leaders must behave in ways that are consistent with the group’s shared values and promote consistent progress toward the group’s goals and vision. According to Kouzes and Posner, leaders’ actions speak very much louder than their words! Leaders do not always lead from a position of power. Some of the most effective leaders lead by example.

Before you move on in this module, go to your Reflection Journal, enter today’s date, and jot down your immediate thoughts about each of these five leadership challenges that were identified by Kouzes and Posner.