There is a steady flow of information in the form of books, articles, white papers and training all in the context of [ "what is leadership" or "how to develop a leader"]?. In this issue, I will avoid those two questions and write about two others that I believe might be on the minds of a lot you readers and they are:

Why does better leadership make a difference? and

How does better leadership achieve those differences?

If you ask yourself and others the first question, why does better leadership make a difference? the answer will most likely be because better leadership creates high performing teams with strong sense of personal and collective power. Better leadership makes a difference because it creates a workplace where morale is high, employees are satisfied and committed to high standards of productivity resulting in high profits.

Imagine a utopia for a workplace where everyone is working together in harmony, and the spirits are high. A place where everyone is satisfied, focused and committed to do their best. Now ask yourself what would the consequences be? The consequences would be high productivity, higher profits and satisfied and loyal employees.

So, the answer to question number two (2), how does better leadership achieve those differences? better leadership achieves better performance. It does so with an Exceptional Leader who influences employees to give their best effort and who inspires employees to feel proud, trustworthy, committed and focused.

An Exceptional Leader is one that recognizes the value of harnessing the skills and abilities of team members and leads them toward greater efficiency and effectiveness.

...And so leader is not a title and leadership is not something you are born into. Leadership is something you develop.

This is what Dr. Ken Blanchard, in his book "The Heart of A Leader" had to say about good leaders; "If you want to know why your people are not performing well, step up to the mirror and take a peek."

Vera Haitayan, Principal Consultant of The Leadership Laboratory., a California-based employee development and process improvement consulting firm and is the senior editor of The Stepping Stone Newsletter featuring leadership and process improvement best practices. http://www.1leadershiplab.com mailto: vera@1leadershiplab.com