Modern Sensei: Evolution of a leader
PART 1
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the ove that gets the people to do the greatest things.“
Ronald Reagan
Let’s be honest: who or what is a leader for you?
The truth is this: defining a leader and his qualities have evolved over the past centuries. Modern technologies and various trends in leading different groups of people, projects and countries are constantly changing. But, that’s too obvious, right? In order of this, we can’t forget the fact that leadership is changing, so we have a very simple and effective equation:
Leader = Influencer
It’s as straightforward as that. Being an influencer isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it emphasizes just how crucial and significant leadership truly is.
Ever heard of Warren Bennis? He’s the brains behind The Study of Corporate Leadership and has penned around 30 books on the subject. According to him, being a leader is akin to mastering a fine art. But what about historical bigwigs like Lao-tzu, Napoleon, and Moses? They’ve been dishing out leadership wisdom for over 5000 years. Yep, leadership has been around the block for quite some time.
The term “leader” made its debut in the English language around 1300 AD, but the nitty-gritty study of leadership didn’t kick off until the 1930s.
Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple and also that difficult.
Warren Bennis
Instead of boring you with textbook facts about leadership evolution, let’s flip the script:
do you prefer more a lonely adventure and being a self-leader or you better functioning in the small or massive community? Scientists are still trying to find and define the best possible characteristics for each type of leaders so they can work and create extraordinary results.
From focusing on individuals to embracing facilitative, self, coordinative, and collaborative leadership, the landscape is diverse. But let’s zoom in on a burning question:
What’s the dynamic like between a Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development team?
You guessed it – it’s a tight-knit collaboration.
Product Leadership brings to the table a killer vision, stellar product strategy, and roadmap, not to mention top-notch product backlog prioritization.
And Scrum Master Leadership? Well, Scrum Master’s the maestro of processes, with personal skills that tie into the traits of an ideal leader.
And hey, here’s a little reminder: if your actions inspire others to dream big, learn more, do more, and become more, congratulations – you’re a leader.