In my 40 years of commercial life I have seen a few true leaders, and many, many more managers.

Unfortunately.

The leaders are not always those at the top of organisations, more often that not, those are just the successful managers. The leaders can be scattered through an organisation, from the top to the bottom, they are the ones to whom others turn when a decision has to be made, a difficult choice articulated, and when someone is required to step forward and be the one to take a risk.

When you  meet one, you usually just “know it”.

Just because you are the boss, does not make you a leader.

Sometimes in fact, I think that being the boss is a counter leadership factor, simply because being the boss means others will do your bidding, the institutional power invested in the position dictates that you have the call.

On many, this conferred power has the effect that they confuse the notions of leadership and management. Their egos are boosted, they feel good so the self confidence that feeling good brings impacts those around them, and they receive the deference of the group, and feed on it.

They listen to their own voice and fail to recognise that it is their voice, and not necessarily the voice of the group.

Leaders by contrast make those around them feel good, they inspire  action by demonstration, they acknowledge that they are a part of a group, not  the embodiment of that group, they give before the receive, of their time, energy, experience, and expertise.

Leaders would never sacrifice those around them for  the numbers, but they would be prepared to sacrifice the numbers for  the people, and others recognise that, and respond by acknowledging their leadership.

The leaders among us are often unsung outside their immediate circles, sometimes we find ourselves participating willingly in something without knowing who started it.

Most of us are aware of “Movember” probably know somebody who has grown a  moustache for charity, but do we know who started it? Probably not, but he was a leader.

He is an unsung hero, unknown apart from his immediate circle, nevertheless, a leader.

A mate of mine, Julian Day  is one such unsung hero. I know he is a leader because he always gives before he receives, that makes him a leader, and I am proud to call him a mate.

This time however, there are some accolades coming from outside his immediate circle. This is based partly on his success as a provider of professional services to the IT industry, and creation of the highly regarded Consensus  awards acknowledging the success of others in that industry.  However, his mission in life is to do something bigger than just have commercial success, so he has created the Waterline Challenge.

I have watched over the past few years as Julian has wrestled with the complex challenges of creating a national charity event, one that will direct the money raised to the need, and not to the charity administration. The commitment of his time and energy has been enormous, but more importantly, he has been able to assemble a stellar group around him ,also prepared to commit their time and energy to the event. He has led the charge, put himself out there with nothing to gain personally.

The catalyst for this post is the publication of a book, “50 unsung business heroes”  in which Julian is  worthy inclusion.

Well done old mate!