Leadership comes in many forms

Leadership is the focus of innumerable books and articles discussing what it takes to be a strong leader. Through all of this it’s important to remember that leadership comes in many forms and leaders have many different styles and personalities. Two interesting leaders from the tech world that you may have heard about recently have redefined what great leadership looks like.

Marissa Mayer became CEO of Yahoo in July 2012. Previously, she was a long-time executive and key spokesperson for Google. Mayer was ranked eighth on the list of America’s most powerful businesswomen of 2013 by Fortune magazine. She has worked hard to reinvigorate Yahoo, which floundered under the direction of the six CEOs prior to her appointment, by orchestrating 17 acquisitions, including the $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr.

Sheryl Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook. Before Facebook, Sandberg was Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, and was involved in launching Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org. In 2012 she was named in the Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine. Sandberg arrived at Facebook when it was bleeding cash, and with her aggressive leadership, the company became profitable. This year Facebook’s ad revenue soared 66% to $US1.8 billion, and mobile ads – Sandberg’s pet project – now account for almost half of its ad revenue.

Both women have proved themselves to be great leaders. However they also have quite different leadership styles. From these examples it is evident that though great leaders share qualities like authenticity, there is no single way to lead and bring success to an organisation. As we welcome a new leadership team to our BNI chapters, it is important that the team remember that their own leadership style will develop over time.

Too often members feel they aren’t suitable for leadership roles in BNI because they don’t necessarily have the traditional qualities associated with leadership. If you feel hesitant about leadership, remember that there are many different ways to lead and moving into the BNI leadership team is a great way to develop your skillset in this area.

Many BNI members who have made the leap to leadership have gained great benefits from this experience. They’ve learnt new things about their interpersonal skills and have gained valuable contacts with other members of leadership teams.

As we cheer on the new leadership team and appreciate the energy they will bringing to the chapter, let’s take a moment to consider how we could all contribute to leadership in some way. It may be just supporting the current team or putting your own hand up for leadership in the future. You may not see yourself as a leader in the traditional sense, but if you are running your own business, you are already taking on an important leadership role – consider taking this to a new level next time with your BNI team.