Recently, a colleague I’ve known for many years asked me a question about the difference between a leader as a person and leadership as an activity. She’d attended a series I facilitated many years ago and still remembered that distinction.

She was trying to tackle a thorny challenge at work and wanted to explore the implications of viewing her actions from each of these two lenses. Based on her interest, I thought it might be useful for my readers. I’ve seen many people who had doubts about their leadership step up confidently after getting clear on this important distinction. What follows is an excerpt from my book, Why Not Lead?