The Faces of Leadership

We seem to live in a day and age where everything appears to have many different faces, and leadership is no different. Look at some of the individuals at the forefront of their fields and rarely will you see two who are just alike. As one whose career is centered in the world of entertainment, I tend to gravitate toward leaders within the arts. However, take a look at Jay Z, Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett and you will see several very different leadership styles.

Despite the differences in many individual approaches to leadership, there are two different paths that almost every great leader can be tied back to in one-way or another: servant leadership or power-centric leadership. In reading both John C. Maxwell’s Developing the Leader Within You, focusing on servant leadership and influence, and Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power, focusing on how to gain power in a more self-centered approach, it has become abundantly clear to me that while learning how to utilize both types of leadership it crucial to being an effective leader, we each tend to connect more with one view than the other.



Personally, there is not a doubt in my mind that I am very prone to Maxwell’s style of servant leadership. According to Maxwell, “Leadership is influence,” (Maxwell, 1993, pg. 1). Without influence you simply cannot be a leader; the way I view this is simple: if no one if following you, if you are not making an impact in anyone’s life, you are not a leader. In order to be a leader, there must be people who follow you. I so closely identify with this because I am a filmmaker, my craft is telling and bringing stories to life on the screen. In order to lead in this industry, I must not only create stories that audiences want to be a part of, but I must also lead my crew to as we bring this story to life. One of the greatest arenas of influence in the modern age is through film, television, music and other forms of media, thus I believe that one of the greatest ways to become a leader is to tell stories that impact and change the lives of those who view them.

Another key to servant leadership involves what Maxwell calls the “Five Levels of Leadership,” including: Position, Permission, Production, People Development and Personhood (Maxwell, 1993, pg. 5 – 11). One important step in this model is people development. In Developing the Leader Within, Maxwell states, “A leader is great not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others. Success without a successor is failure. A worker’s main responsibility is developing others to do the work,” (Maxwell, 1993, pg. 10). This resonates deeply with the kind of leader I strive to be. In working with others, I believe that the leaders who truly build great and lasting companies and brands are those who raise others up to become great leaders. 

I once read a book by Tony Dungy, legendary Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts football coach and two-time Super Bowl champion, entitled The Mentor Leader. Dungy focused upon putting others first and building an organization where leaders train up and equip others to leader. There is one segment from this book that has remained engraved in my mind since the day I first read it. Dungy explains (2010): 

I sometimes picture mentor leadership as an inverted organizational chart. Typically, an organizational chart will have the number one person, or the board, at the top, with subordinates (even the name doesn’t sound inviting) in levels of reporting and supervisory responsibility below…Now, instead of the usual diagram, picture the chart with the number one leader at the bottom and the lines of responsibility and reporting spreading upward and outward. Think about each “subordinate” role now as a position of lifter, equipper, and encourager to the ones above it on the chart…when the leaders below accept their responsibility to lift, equip, and encourage the people above them – and when this attitude pervades the organization – what once seemed precarious now looks connected, supportive and balanced. (p. 42) 

This is the model of leadership that I strive for – a model of leadership in which, my existence lifts, equips and encourages all of those whom I interact with the be the best they can be and succeed themselves as leaders. While, business sometimes requires the cut-throat elements of Greene, I believe that a greater influence is acquired through serving and not stepping on others. As I am only in the early stages of my leadership development and journey, I am able to observe and learn from other leaders, such as Dungy and Maxwell, that one day, I may be able to attain personhood and leave behind me a legacy that continually impacts, influences and encourages others. Servant leadership is a life-long pursuit, however, I am looking forward to the adventure.