Michael McKinney is the president of LeadershipNow where they believe leadership is everyone's business and that we need people of all ages and backgrounds to take part. His blog - Leading Blog - won our first Best of Leadership Blogs competition last summer.

Michael says leaders think different. They see the world differently. And that we all possess the capacity of leadership, but only those who cultivate it will ever become truly effective leaders. (I couldn't agree more!)

Michael adds to the blog regularly, but I would like to share one of his posts from last summer (July 2007) that I think is really interesting.

The Importance of Competence
by Michael McKinney (July 18, 2007)

Competence alone can't make a leader, but it can undo one. While inaction is a prime problem facing many organizations (and individuals for that matter), there's the very real possibility that one is doing the wrong thing. An incompetent leader has almost unlimited opportunities to be ineffective. Knowing what to do-professional competence-is vital.

Being competent doesn't mean that a leader knows how to do everything, but rather that they know what to do and how to get it done. Even the most brilliant leader who tries to go it on their own is setting themselves up for failure. A good leader will know where their strengths and weaknesses lie and thus know what kind of expertise they will need to surround themselves with.

While many "leaders" are often selected for their competence alone, competence is something different from character or leadership competence, and should not be confused.

Read the rest of the post here.

Also posted in Leadership and Learning.