Leadership as a behaviour rather than a position
- 9 min reading
- 16 min activity
Think of the last time someone made a hard day easier for a whole group, without being the boss. Maybe a classmate shared her notes, or a colleague showed you a trick with the scanner. That person was leading. This lesson shows why.
- Explain why leadership is something you do, not only a title you have.
- Recognise "micro-leadership": small actions that help people move forward.
- See which micro-leadership actions you already use today.
Two ideas of leadership
Many people think a leader is the person at the top: the manager, the director, the person with the title. In this idea, leadership is a position. Someone else gives it to you, with a contract or a promotion.
This module uses a second idea. Leadership is a behaviour: something you do with and for other people. You can do it as a trainee, a student, a volunteer or the newest person in the team. You do not need to wait for anybody's permission to start.
The publisher's description of Brené Brown's book Dare to Lead (2018) says it in one sentence: "Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people."
| Leadership as a position | Leadership as a behaviour | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it comes from | A title, a contract, years in the company | What you do with other people |
| Who has it | A few people at the top | Anyone, at any level |
| When it starts | When someone gives you the role | Today, in small actions |
Fatou, 23, washes dishes in a hotel kitchen in Milan. Every week the team argues about shift swaps in a messy group chat, and the same two people always get the weekend nights. Fatou suggests a simple shared list: who wants to swap, and who already worked the last two weekends. The head chef agrees, because the list saves him time. Fatou has no title. But she noticed a problem, offered a fair solution and made it easy for the person in charge to say yes.
Micro-leadership: small actions, real effects
In this module we call actions like Fatou's micro-leadership. Here is a simple working definition: micro-leadership is a small, voluntary action that helps other people or the team move forward, without needing a title.
Most micro-leadership belongs to one of three kinds:
You act before someone asks, to make things better. Example: you prepare the handover note before the next shift arrives.
You share an idea, a concern or a problem with someone who can act. Example: "I think the emergency exit is blocked by boxes." Researchers call this voice. Keeping useful information to yourself is called silence (Morrison, 2014).
You support someone or make sure nobody is left out. Example: you show a new colleague where the safety gloves are, or ask the quiet person in your group: "What do you think?"
Micro-leadership happens in every part of life:
- At work: Hasan, 24, a care assistant in Thessaloniki, writes a short list of the abbreviations used in the handover notes for a new colleague.
- In education: Mariam, 19, in a vocational course in Hamburg, suggests one shared online document for the group project, so nobody misses information.
- In the community: Yusuf, 19, volunteers two evenings a week at a community centre in Gaziantep and helps families fill in forms in Turkish and Arabic.
These small actions are noticed. A large review looked at research with more than 51,000 people. Helping colleagues and doing more than your job description were linked to better performance ratings from managers, and to rewards (Podsakoff et al., 2009).
Which kind of micro-leadership?
Eight short moments from work, training and daily life. Most of them are micro-leadership. One or two are not leadership yet.
Why this matters when you look for a job
Employers ask for this skill. In a 2024 survey, more than 1,000 employers around the world were asked about skills. 61% of them said that "leadership and social influence" is a core skill for their workforce. Only two skills were named more often (World Economic Forum, 2025).
For most young people, this skill does not come from a manager title. It comes from moments like Fatou's list or Hasan's handover notes. The EU's entrepreneurship framework, EntreComp, gives these skills names you can use in a CV: taking the initiative, mobilising others and working with others (Bacigalupo et al., 2016).
"I don't have a manager title yet, but I organised a fair shift-swap list for our kitchen team." "One example of when I took the initiative is ..."
Leadership is not about being a hero. You do not need to take big risks, fight your boss or save the day alone. Most leadership is small and repeated: keeping promises, sharing information, helping someone start. If a situation feels unsafe, the leader's step is to ask for help, not to act alone.
Your micro-leadership today
The self-check below is personal: other learners cannot see it. It looks at what you do, not at what kind of person you are. There are no good or bad answers, and your profile can change with practice.
My micro-leadership today
Read each sentence and choose how often it is true for you. Think of work, training, school or daily life. Other learners cannot see your answers.
Watch for one moment of micro-leadership around you: someone who takes the initiative, speaks up, or helps and includes others. Write down in a few words what the person did. You will use it in the next activity.
- Leadership (as a behaviour)
- Helping people move forward through what you do, with or without a title.
- Position
- A role or title, such as manager or team leader.
- Micro-leadership
- A small, voluntary action that helps other people or the team, without needing a title.
- Initiative
- Acting before someone asks you to.
- Voice
- Sharing an idea or a concern with someone who can act on it.
In short
- Leadership can be a position, but in this module it is a behaviour: something you do.
- Micro-leadership means small actions: taking the initiative, speaking up, helping and including.
- Employers value this skill, and you can show it without a title.
- Small, safe and repeated actions matter more than heroic moments.
Sources
- Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead. Vermilion / Random House. Publisher's description (curriculum reference).
- Morrison, E. W. (2014). Employee voice and silence. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1, 173-197.
- Podsakoff, N. P., Whiting, S. W., Podsakoff, P. M., & Blume, B. D. (2009). Individual- and organizational-level consequences of organizational citizenship behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(1), 122-141.
- World Economic Forum (2025). The Future of Jobs Report 2025, Figure 3.3, p. 35 (Future of Jobs Survey 2024).
- Bacigalupo, M., Kampylis, P., Punie, Y., & Van den Brande, G. (2016). EntreComp: The Entrepreneurship Competence Framework. European Commission, Joint Research Centre.