Was that a 440-volt shock to see me say something like that?
Leadership is a Result
Let me explain. In the same way that I am tired of hearing the term “psychological safety,” I am tired of hearing the word “leadership.” Psychological safety has become the $10 word for not intimidating your team members or scaring them into not being transparent. We tend to label any kind of coaching, advising, training, or off-site resetting retreat as a treatment for managerial dysfunction or as “leadership” development. It is more accurate to refer to those efforts as leadership actualization, creation, or operationalization.
The release of my book, Week Minded, 52 Reflections on Leading and Living, on Saturday, May 2 (5-2), 2026, released a flood of new connections. Some want to hug me and say thank you for something that resonated in the book. Some just want an autographed souvenir, just in case I become someone (snicker). Some reach out to tap into my network for their personal gain. Many are genuinely happy for me, proud that I said I would do something and then, well, I did it. Some are family members who now have a set of 52 stories about my life, going back three generations, to reveal the impoverished beginnings. It is about a recorded legacy.
WHATs are Easy, HOWs are Hard
I realized, while writing this part-memoir, part leadership-lesson weekly read, that leadership is a very complex idea. Few people can actually change to become a better leader. Some can act differently for a time before the stress and anxiety of life take them back to their “leadership-less” selves. We fail at leadership because the WHATs of leadership are easy. The HOWs are hard. Actually delivering the behaviors consistently and believably is very difficult when they do not come naturally to you. We must start with the WHATs. We do some assessments, some interviews, and observations. We assign accountability partners who will watch for crutch behaviors and language that robs us of our leadership effectiveness. The aim is to truly make us self-aware (Awakening Awareness). Maybe awareness creates a desire to change. Yes, we are all leaders. We just are not all at the same level of effectiveness as leaders. Some are highly evolved, some just know how to execute the lessons.
We talk about leadership like it’s a thing. I’m tired of us using the word incorrectly. Leadership is a result. All the training and practice should culminate in a new you and a new effectiveness. That newness is what we call “leadership.” It is the result of the development of the new behaviors. True leadership is a result of authentic, intentional behaviors that influence those around us. It is a system of sequential, interdependent concepts that build on one another. It is people effectiveness – really reaching people where they are and helping them navigate work and life for greater fulfillment. It is the optimization of seeing people and having them be seen. It is complete communication that eliminates all doubt about what was intended and done, and is done so with heartfelt kindness. It is about connecting with people through authentic, clear, and well-placed candor within a value-based relationship. It happens in an environment where feedback is not just welcomed but sought after, because both parties know it comes from the heart.
Learning to lead is about building the skills that evoke in others the feeling that they are being fed, which will make them followers. Leadership is really the end result, not the labeled training, personality assessments, and crucial conversation classes. Leadership is the development of results through the building of successful behaviors. Leadership is what you have left after the dust clears from your own leadership construction project.
In Nine Lies About Work, Buckingham and Goodall end the book with the chapter “Leadership is a Thing.” Their point is that there is no list of competencies that every leader must possess to succeed. In truth, no one checks all of the boxes. We are the sum total of all we have lived through and experienced, our education, our personality, our red threads, our resilient moments, and all that adds up to who we are. We are beautifully flawed individuals. And I would not have it any other way.
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If you want to learn more about my insights on leading people, I hope you bought a copy of my book, Week Minded: 52 Reflections on Leading and Living. Find it at www.BeWeekMinded.com. And if you want to know more on my thoughts on attracting followers, check out the Forbes article about my leadership principles, “Week Minded: Why This CHRO Says ‘Caring’ Is His #1 Takeaway from His Master’s Degree.” by Kevin Kruse, Contributor that dropped Sunday, May 3rd, 2026, Why This CHRO Says Caring Is the Key to Leadership. Reach out at Rod@BeWeekMinded.com.
Stay week minded!