Leadership: What It Truly Means
Author: Abel Ese
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” - John C. Maxwell
In today’s world, everyone wants to be a leader and add fancy titles to their CV for a track record of leadership and authority. Yet, many still misunderstand what true leadership is. Leadership goes beyond the big and fancy titles in places of work; it comes with a sense of direction, purpose and role modelling individuals to discover their true potentials to achieve great success.
In practice, most of us have worked for someone with a senior title who inspired no one, and we’ve also worked for someone with no senior title at all, but who inspired us and demonstrated good leadership. You see that gap between job title and impact is the first clue that leadership isn’t about title but impact. Leadership, at its core, is positive influence — the ability to move people toward a shared purpose, willingly. Not through fear of consequence, but because people trust the direction and trust the person pointing toward it.
In this article, I have included interviews with two inspirational and impactful leaders I know within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. We will hear their insights and perspectives about leadership. I have tailored it into three questions, which are:
- What does leadership truly mean to you?
- What experience has most shaped the leader you are today?
- What is one leadership principle you believe every leader should never compromise on?
As you read their experiences, reflect on how their perspectives on leadership can help you be a better leader, who is not just a people manager but a positive and impactful leader.
We Think Leadership Is About Position - But It’s About Behaviour
One of the biggest misconceptions is that leadership is tied to hierarchy. We assume that those at the top are the leaders, and those below are simply followers. But leadership has very little to do with where you sit on an organisational chart. Leadership is a behaviour - not a badge!
Some of the strongest leaders in any organisation are not the ones with the most senior titles. They are the people who step forward when something needs to be done, who bring others with them, who create clarity in confusion and calm in crisis. They lead through action, not authority.
Not all organisation managers are leaders. Kotter (1990) draws a clear line between management and leadership, arguing that management exists to produce order and predictability, while leadership exists to produce movement and change. If you are in a management position in your organisation, I want you to ask yourself this simple question: Am I just a manager or a true leader?
Be a manager who is also a true leader — a manager who sees the best in people and helps them develop their potentials to achieve greater success, not a manager who is clouded by authority and becomes a nightmare to those they manage.
We Think Leadership Is About Being Right - But It’s About Being Accountable
Too often, leadership is framed as having the answers. But real leadership is about asking better questions, listening deeply and being accountable for the impact of your decisions. The leaders who make the biggest difference are not those who insist on being right, they are the ones who take responsibility when things go wrong, learn openly and model humility. They create psychological safety by showing that mistakes are not failures but opportunities for growth.
Brown (2018), whose work is built on years of studying courage in organisations, argues that genuine leadership means owing mistakes and making amends rather than assigning blame, and her research found that only a small minority of organisations hold people accountable when they breach their own stated values. Leadership shows up in how someone handles the moments when things go wrong.
We Think Leadership Is About Control - But It’s About Connection
Traditional leadership models emphasise control: directing, instructing, and managing. But modern leadership is rooted in connection. People follow leaders they trust. Leaders who listen. Leaders who understand the human experience behind the job role. Leaders who recognise that relationships are not “soft skills”, they are the foundation of effective practice.
Connection builds commitment. Control only builds compliance.
Greenleaf (1970), who introduced the term “servant leadership”, reframed leadership away from the accumulation of authority at the top of a hierarchy and toward a leader’s responsibility to grow and support the people they lead. That doesn’t mean leaders have no ambition – it means their ambition sit in service of something larger than their own advancement, and people can usually tell the difference.
We Think Leadership Is About Visibility - But It’s About Integrity
Some leaders are visible everywhere, in meetings, on emails, in presentations. But visibility alone does not equal leadership. Integrity does! Integrity is what guides leaders when no one is watching. It’s the quiet decision to do the right thing even when it’s inconvenient, unpopular or unnoticed. It’s the consistency between what leaders say and what they do. It’s the courage to challenge poor practice and champion better care. Integrity is the anchor of leadership. Without it, everything else is performance.
We Think Leadership Is About Leading Others - But It Starts with Leading Ourselves
We often talk about leadership as something directed outward - leading teams, leading services and leading change. But leadership begins internally. It starts with self-awareness - understanding your strengths, your blind spots, your triggers and your values. It requires emotional regulation, reflective practice and the willingness to grow. Leaders who cannot lead themselves will struggle to lead anyone else. Self-leadership is not optional. It is foundational.
What Does Leadership Truly Mean?
Leadership is the daily practice of:
- Integrity - doing the right thing consistently
- Accountability - owning your decisions and their impact
- Connection - building trust and valuing people
- Clarity - creating direction in uncertainty
- Courage - challenging what needs to change
- Reflection - learning continuously and modelling growth
Interviews with Senior Leaders in South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Below are the insights and perspectives from Ranjeet (Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement):
What does leadership truly mean to you?
“For me, leadership is not about position, status or having all the answers. It is about taking responsibility for creating the conditions in which other people can succeed.The best leaders provide clarity when things are uncertain, remain calm when things are difficult, and help people connect their daily work to a bigger purpose. Leadership is also about listening. Some of the most important decisions I have made have come from taking the time to hear perspectives that might otherwise have been overlooked. Ultimately, leadership is an act of service. It is about helping people, teams and organisations become more than they thought they could be”.
What experience has most shaped the leader you are today?
“The experience that has shaped me most has been leading through periods of significant change and crisis in the NHS. Whether responding to major incidents, supporting organisations through transformation, or helping teams navigate uncertainty, I have learned that people rarely remember the strategy document or presentation. They remember how leaders made them feel.Those experiences taught me that trust is a leader's most valuable asset. Trust is built through honesty, consistency and visibility, especially when the answers are not straightforward. They also reinforced the importance of humility. No leader succeeds alone, and some of the most effective leadership comes from recognising the expertise and strengths of others and creating space for them to lead”.
What is one leadership principle you believe every leader should never compromise on?
“Integrity - People can forgive mistakes, but they struggle to forgive leaders whose words and actions do not align. Leadership requires difficult decisions, competing pressures and tough conversations, but integrity must remain constant.For me, integrity means being honest about challenges, treating people with respect, doing what you say you will do, and making decisions based on what is right rather than what is easiest. When leaders demonstrate integrity consistently, they create trust, and trust is the foundation on which every successful team, organisation and partnership is built”.
Below are the insights and perspectives from Dr Adegboyega (Specialty Doctor in Forensic Psychiatry):
What does leadership truly mean to you?
“Leadership is the ability to effectively influence others' thinking, feelings and behaviour towards achieving shared goals while inspiring them to pursue personal growth in the process. Thus, the hallmark of successful leadership, for me, is producing shared results while reproducing leaders”.
What experience has most shaped the leader you are today?
“My interest in forensic psychiatry was spurred by my mentor, who is one of the leading lights of the field in Africa. He mentored me by inviting me to take up specific tasks with him while making sure that I co owned the output in those tasks. Within a short while, I grew in knowledge, skills and attitude relevant to the profession, but more importantly, I suddenly observed that I had become a man like him. He taught me duty in the sphere of delegation and purpose in the realm of power.”
What is one leadership principle you believe every leader should never compromise on?
“Humility is the core principle that I believe a leader should never compromise on. First, it will help you to be a true follower, which is at the heart of true leadership. Second, it will promote a willingness on your part to accept feedback, pleasant or unpleasant. Third, you will never make enemies of your critics, and from their perspectives, you will only grow through reflecting on alternative frames of thinking. Finally, humility brings you to the point where you will never be too full to learn; you will always accept that you do not know anything yet as you ought to know.”
Why We Keep Getting It Wrong
We get leadership wrong because we reward the wrong things. We reward confidence over competence, visibility over values, authority over authenticity. We promote people for technical skill rather than relational skill. We assume leadership is about being in charge rather than being of service.
The future of leadership is human. It is relational. It is values driven. It is grounded in humility, curiosity and collaboration. It is less about leading from the front and more about leading from alongside. Most importantly, it is something we can all choose to practise regardless of job title, seniority or work settings.
Leadership is not a title. It is not a personality trait. It is not a performance. Leadership is a commitment to people, to purpose and to better practice. Leadership is not what we have been taught to believe. It is something far more powerful, far more personal and far more necessary.
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one who gets people to do the greatest things.” - Ronald Reagan
About the Author
Abel is a Learning and Development Lead (Learning Disability) at the Estia Centre. He has a clinical background as a senior support worker and activity practitioner. He is also a professional science teacher and adult trainer with over 13 years of experience. Abel has held a leadership role as Head of Department while working as a science teacher in a school setting.
References
Brown, B. (2018) Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. New York:
Random House. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40109367-dare-to-lead (Accessed: 25 July 2026).
Greenleaf, R.K. (1970) The Servant as Leader. Westfield, IN: Greenleaf Centre for Servant
Leadership. Available at: https://greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/ (Accessed: 25 July 2026).
Kotter, J.P. (1990) A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management, cited in:
Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation (2023) ‘Leading vs. managing: what’s the difference?’. Available at: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/leadership-skills-daily/leading-vs-managing-whats-the-difference/ (Accessed: 25 July 2026).