When people ask, I describe leadership as the effect of being followed. The way you become followed is by having clarity of vision and direction. That clarity o

When people ask, I describe leadership as the effect of being followed. The way you become followed is by having clarity of vision and direction. That clarity of vision and direction tends to be a moralized intention. Someone who "feels guilt" (a really coarse interpretation) could fall into the set of people oriented in a moralized direction, but guilt is neither sufficient or necessary to lead. Leadership, that is - to be followed willingly - is an effect of having moral clarity about where you are going, and then taking others there with you. Someone without moral clarity about their direction can manage, judge, be an authority figure, drive change, govern, influence, and lots of other means of using power invested in them, but they are using the reflected clarity of the authority that invested them with their powers, and they are not the origin of that moral clarity like someone with first hand knowledge, competence, or physical experience. This natural leadership doesn't always prevail either, and it's even not always ethical, but if you want to talk about leadership, it's not something that can be faked until you make it or affected for very long, as it's the effect of being followed willingly. You are followed, or you aren't.