“Leadership is an action, not a position." said Donald McGannon – one of the biggest influencers and advocates of social responsibility in the broadcasting industry.

Hierarchy is the world of the past. Today’s organisations belong to the people who work in them (notice the word IN them, not FOR them). Each and every person, no matter levels, because today everyone is empowered and has the tools to speak up, be heard and drive change.

We’ve been seeing this happen more and more over the past few years, so it’s no surprise that this is one of the main findings of this year’s Leadership Communication Monitor by Ketchum –leadership no longer comes from CEOs only, but from everyone in the organisation.

This is the era of title-less, shared leadership.

The Future of Leadership

With the global leadership crisis getting worse where only 24% of people believe that leaders are effective (last year the number was 29%), here’s what the leaders of the future need to do:

•         Walk the talk and lead by example
•         Be transparent, honest and open in their communications
•         Admit their mistakes and be accountable
•         Have great people skills to bring out the best in others and motivate them
•         Be professional, stay calm and confident even in the toughest or controversial cases

And all that needs to happen now, in real time. Ketchum calls it leadership at the speed of now and identifies five essential questions leaders must ask themselves to see whether their leadership style is effective:

Leaders today must be collaborative leaders. They need to “be able to harness ideas, people, and resources from across boundaries of all kinds. That requires reinventing their talent strategies and building strong connections both inside and outside their organizations. To get all the disparate players to work together effectively, they also need to know when to wield influence rather than authority to move things forward, and when to halt unproductive discussions, squash politicking, and make final calls.”

Everyone can be a leader. In any space. At any stage of your career.

At work, your colleagues look up to you for help, advice, ideas and inspiration. At home, your family needs your support, caring and thoughtfulness. Within your community, your friends and the people you know want you to be their motivational change agent.

To inspire you to be a leader, I’ve created a SlideShare with my top 17 leadership quotes from notable influencers:

17 Leadership Quotes to Inspire You

What’s your favourite leadership quote?