-Good leadership is a skill that can be learned.
A couple of weeks ago, I promised to share a few ideas about how we can all learn to lead.
One the reasons that many people find the topic of leadership challenging - or just plain confusing - is because just about everybody you meet will have a view about what good leadership looks like.
Google and libraries can be helpful but also challenging because so much is written about leadership, it can be really hard to sort out the good from the bad; the gold from the clay.
Another dimension to the challenge of leadership is that leading people is a complex undertaking; true leadership is about influencing people and people are complicated.
All of that said, the best teachers are those who are able to unpack complicated ideas and make them simple. Or as Einstein once said: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
Which is why two of my two "go to" people when it comes to leadership are a couple of wonderful men with unusual surnames - James Kouzes and Barry Posner.
Kouzes and Posner have been studying leadership for more than 30 years. Their achievements and contribution to the world community over that time have proved that they are authentic leaders who walk the talk.
In 2010, they were presented with the American Society for Training and Development's highest award for their "Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance".
Their first book on leadership, The Leadership Challenge was first published in 1987. It is now in its fifth edition, has sold more than two million copies worldwide and is available in more than 22 languages. It has won numerous awards and was named as one of the top 10 books on leadership in Covert and Sattersten's The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. Earlier this year, Kouzes and Posner wrote a special edition for New Zealand and Australia, which has been strongly endorsed by a bunch of leadership experts in the South Pacific.
Best of all - their leadership framework is simple and easy to apply every day. All it needs is a little thought and discipline on your part. Next week we will look at the first of Kouzes and Posner's five practices for exemplary leadership - model the way. Until then, ka kite ano.
