When we talk about leadership development, the conversation too often narrows to preparing someone for a title — supervisor, manager, executive, C-suite. The focus becomes about “coaching up” individuals to fit into predefined roles within a hierarchy.

But leadership is not a rung on a ladder. It’s not a badge reserved for those who’ve reached a certain level of authority. Leadership is everywhere — and it’s in everyone.

Leadership as Connection, Not Position

True leadership development is about reconnecting people:

• To their hearts

• To each other

• To their spirits

• To a sense of balance between all aspects of self

It’s about re-creating relationships across differences and similarities, across strengths, gifts, and challenges. It’s about seeing leadership not as a skill set for the few, but as a shared human capacity that can be nurtured in all of us.

Changing the Narrative

When we coach managers and supervisors, we have an incredible opportunity to shift the narrative about what leadership means. Instead of reinforcing the idea that leadership is about control, productivity, or getting people to follow, we can teach that it’s about:

• Listening deeply to those most affected by decisions

• Inviting people into the decision-making process

• Building skills in spaces and ways that past experiences may not have allowed

• Unlearning outdated narratives about authority and influence

In the nonprofit world, this shift is even more critical. The leaders are not just the ones with titles — they are the people we serve, the individuals we walk alongside.

Pushing Leadership Closer to the People

If we truly believe in shared leadership, we must ask:

• How do we push decision-making as close to those individuals as possible?

• How do we ensure their voices are heard and valued?

• How do we create opportunities for them to lead in ways that honor their lived experience?

This is not about creating the illusion of shared leadership while still making all the decisions behind the scenes. It’s about genuinely redistributing power, trust, and responsibility.

Unlearning to Lead

For many managers, supervisors, and executives, the first step in leadership development is unlearning.

Unlearning the belief that leadership is about motivating others to meet our goals.

Unlearning the idea that productivity is the ultimate measure of success.

Unlearning the notion that leadership is about getting people to follow us, rather than walking alongside them.

The Work Ahead

At Resurgence, we are deeply invested in exploring how to make this shift real. We believe leadership development should be about cultivating connection, equity, and shared power — not just preparing people for positions of authority.

It’s time to change the conversation about who leaders are, what leadership is, and how we develop it. Because when leadership is everywhere, change can and will come from anywhere and everywhere.

Contact us to talk more about how we can change the conversation and start to make lasting impacts!