What is a leader? (Taken from Callerlink 142 October 2000)
Jeff Garbutt

Simply stated - "a leader is one who has followers". Nothing more - nothing less.

A leader does not have to be:
- A chief executive officer
- A supervisor
- A facilitator
- A manager
- A boss
A leader is a person that other people will follow - simply because they want to.

A leader may posses some skill in which he/she can make people believe that they want to follow him/her. But it is done in a way that involves no commands or directions.

To illustrate the differences between a leader and titles.

* A CEO may decide that everyone should go down the local coffee shop for a get together. The CEO (or his/her secretary) will consult with his/her management team to work out the arrangements, and come up with the necessary action plan to make it happen.
* A manager will call in key members of his/her team and plan a team building exercise, which will involve a meeting at the local coffee shop.
* A supervisor will say "I think it would be a good idea if we all went out for coffee, do you want to come ?".
* A boss would say "Ok everyone, drop everything now, we're going to the local coffee shop".
* A leader would say nothing more than "I'm going out for a coffee" - and everyone else will follow...