What is a leader? | Dr. Kirk Kauffeldt | LeadingSelf Introduction

Summary

Dr. Kurt Kaufelt passionately discusses leadership, emphasizing it as influence beyond titles or positions. He defines leadership as the stewardship of one's talents to achieve shared goals, often involving positive change. Kaufelt stresses the importance of serving others, highlighting authentic humility and a magnanimous orientation as key. He introduces a model where a leader is committed to a purpose, influencing a group to accomplish it and produce more leaders. The video script also touches on five attitudes essential for leadership: thinking of others first, positivity, courage, responsibility, and a commitment to learning.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Leadership is the ability to influence and make something happen, not just holding a title or position.
• 🔍 Leadership is not about being the best at something, but understanding how to get the best out of everyone to achieve a common goal.
• 🙅‍♂️ Leadership is not forcing or controlling; it's about building a trust relationship where people choose to follow.
• 🌱 Leadership is not management; it's about making change happen, often by disrupting the status quo and finding better ways to do things.
• 💡 A working definition of leadership is the stewardship of one's gifts and talents to work with others to accomplish a shared goal, often involving positive change or transformation.
• 💖 Authentic humility and a magnanimous orientation are at the heart of leadership that serves, where leaders have a strong desire to serve others.
• 🔑 The core of effective leadership is character, which is often unseen but amplifies the leader's skills, talents, and gifts.
• 📈 A leader's role is to empower others to achieve something greater than their own selfish interests, using their leadership to bring about positive holistic change.
• 🌐 The concept of 'leading self' is foundational to leadership, emphasizing the importance of self-leadership before leading others, teams, or organizations.
• 📚 The five attitudes of the heart for leaders are thinking about others first, being positive, responding with courage, accepting responsibility, and being a learner.

Q & A

What is Dr. Kurt Kaufeld's profession and how long has he been involved in it?

Dr. Kurt Kaufeld is a professor and leadership expert with over 35 years of experience working at universities around the world, teaching, running programs, and writing about leadership.

Why does Dr. Kaufeld consider leadership to be a complex topic?

Dr. Kaufeld finds leadership complex because it has been studied for hundreds of years with various models and descriptions, and it manifests differently at various levels and in different contexts.

What is Dr. Kaufeld's working definition of leadership?

Dr. Kaufeld's working definition of leadership is the stewardship of one's gifts and talents to work with others to accomplish a shared goal or objective, often involving making things better, initiating change, or transformation.

How does Dr. Kaufeld differentiate leadership from having a title or position?

Dr. Kaufeld clarifies that leadership is not about having a title or position; it's about the ability to influence and make things happen, which can be demonstrated by individuals without formal titles.

What does Dr. Kaufeld believe leadership is not, in terms of management?

Leadership is not management, according to Dr. Kaufeld. While management involves maintaining order and preventing negative outcomes, leadership is about driving change and sometimes disrupting the status quo.

What are the three elements of leadership that Dr. Kaufeld discusses?

The three elements of leadership Dr. Kaufeld discusses are the leader, the purpose they commit to, and the group they influence to accomplish that purpose.

What is the central quality that Dr. Kaufeld believes should be at the heart of leadership?

Dr. Kaufeld believes that authentic humility and a magnanimous orientation, which is the belief that things can be better and that one is created for something great to happen, should be at the heart of leadership.

How does Dr. Kaufeld describe the concept of 'serving leadership'?

Dr. Kaufeld describes 'serving leadership' as a leadership style where the leader is committed to a purpose greater than their self-interest, empowering others to achieve something significant together.

What is the significance of the 'five attitudes of the heart' in leadership according to Dr. Kaufeld?

The 'five attitudes of the heart' are character qualities that enrich a leader's life and provide the necessary gravitas for successful leadership. These include thinking about others first, being positive, responding with courage, accepting responsibility, and being a learner.

How does Dr. Kaufeld relate the concept of leadership to the company Chick-fil-A?

Dr. Kaufeld relates leadership to Chick-fil-A by highlighting the company's success, which is attributed to their service and the leadership philosophy that emphasizes serving others, starting with leading oneself.