Just what is the meaning of leadership? To some it means the ability to inspire followers to take action; to others it means setting a good example; to still others it means influencing people to attain goals rather than simply ordering them to do so.

To me, it means all this and more. It means envisioning, enthusing, empowering, enduring... It means meshing ideas and people.

For me it's not enough that a leader is informed — he needs to be inspired. And that requires passion. A leader cannot lead, just as a writer cannot write, or a painter paint unless he feels passionately about what he is doing. Similarly, effectiveness is not enough. A leader must be infectious. He needs to be a one-man epidemic!

Max De Pree says leadership is more tribal than scientific, an art rather than science, it is more a weaving of relationships than the amassing, analysing and dispersal of information. To me it is also chemistry. Chemistry between people, chemistry to find out what will mix with what to produce new elements, what is volatile, what is inert, what will be the residue. The leader becomes, in fact, if he already isn't at the start, a good chemist.

Leadership is meant to serve, not rule. It is teamwork not one-upmanship. It is delegation, not relegation. It is ownership of both achievements and failures. It is taking charge, as well as 'charging' followers.