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If someone asks whether you are a leader you might say no because you don't have that sort of role. To make matters worse, you may look up to leaders to such an extent that you don't think you could ever be one yourself. It is important to be sure that your self-perception doesn't become a self-fulfilling prophecy, that because you think you can never be a leader, you never will be one. This is a problem for many people because we are so strongly inclined to idealize or look up to leaders as if they were on a lofty plane out of reach of the rest of us ordinary mortals.
It is widely assumed that a vision is essential to lead others. The truth is that leaders provide direction but that can range from a good idea for a minor change to a grand vision like JFK's vision of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's.
Traditionally, the leader sits at the top of a hierarchy. This is a very primitive concept of leadership. Most higher animals also form themselves into hierarchies, which is biologically and psychologically primitive. Why have we not progressed beyond our animal cousins?
Why is leadership portrayed in terms of how managers manage people? How can you be said to LEAD people when you have the authority to tell them what to do? Business leadership is often portrayed as a decision making exercise. The CEO decides what to do and that is called leadership. But, another way of looking at this situation would be to conceptualize this action as a managerial or executive act, not one of leadership. An interesting point here is that the field of leadership studies has been dominated by people interested in CEO and business leadership but this is a narrow lens through which to study leadership.
Our primary image of the leader comes from the military. Great leaders have always been heroes, especially military heroes. Hero worship is OK if it inspires us to greater heights. But bad if it disempowers us, making us dependent on heroes. Military heroes know where to go and how to get there so can lead from the front. Organizations today need everyone thinking about new directions to pursue.