1) The document discusses the concept of leadership and proposes a model called "Proof of Leadership" to define it. 2) "Proof of Leadership" identifies six key dimensions of leadership: the leader's vision, beliefs, change model, ability to influence, values, and behaviors. 3) The model is then applied to analyze several iconic, business, and political leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Steve Jobs, Alan Mulally, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump. Applying the six dimensions provides a concise way to understand the essence of each leader's approach.

1. PROOF OF LEADERSHIP
Dr John Hogan
Leadership-One Word, Many Meanings
Many people in the business world aspire to be leaders while their organizations expend great resources
to identify current and future leaders. The interplay between these efforts is complicated by the
distinction between potential leadership and acknowledged leadership. Individuals ask “do I have the
potential to be a leader”, or, “I have shown leadership, where is my reward”. Organizations are asking
“can this person be a leader”, or, “does this successful employee embody leadership characteristics
aligned with our culture”. Meanwhile, like the proverbial elephant in the room, the unanswered
question is “what is leadership anyway?”. Or if the question is asked there is no universal answer that
satisfies all stakeholders. There are organizational attempts at a tops down answer based on the latest
business school thinking and what high priced consultants have advocated. There are individual
attempts at a bottoms up answer based on the latest leadership best seller combined with the
individual’s street smarts. There is no guarantee these attempts will converge on a universal answer-not
within a given organization or across multiple organizations within an industry. Is this the most we can
hope for given the nature of leadership? See Figure 1
Figure 1 The Elephant in the Room
No, leadership can be unambiguously defined on first principles and deductions from these principles.
We call this “Proof of Leadership”. In this short essay we will derive a leadership definition, verify it
against actual leaders, and, most importantly, offer it as a way to enhance your success as a leader.
The Corporation
needs a leadership
model
Inspiration Trust
Teamwork
Dust off the
old one
How can I apply
anything from the 20
leadership books on
my Kindle?
What is leadership anyway?

2. Let’s start by replacing “what is leadership anyway” with “what do we know to be true about
leadership”.
What Do We Know To Be True About Leadership
Leaders have followers. Sounds pretty obvious but immediately addresses the question of leadership
potential. You may have the potential to be a leader but if you cannot identify who is currently
following you- you are not a leader. You may have led in the past but if people are not currently
following you- you are not a leader. Leadership is not a mantle placed on you because of your past or
future endeavors. The root word is “lead” and, like it or not, “lead” is a verb not a noun. “Follow” is also
a verb and together these words imply a destination. The destination is not typically a place,
notwithstanding the well-worn Shackleton Antarctic leadership story. More typical destinations might
be a winning season, increased market share, or clean drinking water in our community. The description
of this destination is the leader’s vision- best captured with the 5w’s: who, what, when, where, why.
This vision invokes an achievable future in which followers see benefit for themselves and those they
care about.
The Leader’s Vision Requires Change. Whether the destination is a place or a winning season, something
must change to make the destination a reality. That’s just unassailable semantics. So leaders are by
definition change agents. The options for change are unbounded and often contradictory. Does a
winning season require more discipline, more physical training, a new playbook, new facilities, new
talent, more engaged fans, more practice… The leader must have a model for how to best realize this
change. Furthermore, followers must believe this model has a decent chance of success before
investing their time and efforts into it. Therefore, the leader must have realistic beliefs about the world
inhabited by his or her followers and a change model based on these beliefs.
Followers must change their beliefs, behaviors, and actions to implement the change demanded by the
vision. We have a vision. The vision requires change. I, the follower, must change. I, the leader, must
influence the follower to change. In short, the leader must have the ability to influence people.
Leaders and followers are humans. Two dimensions of the human experience are the individual’s
internal life and the individual’s external interactions with others. Internal life is driven by what the
individual values. External interactions are defined by the individual’s behavior. An individual’s core
values and behaviors are those that are most prevalent across all the social situations engaged in by that
individual. If we are curious as a student we will most likely be curious as an employee, a shopper, a
friend, a teammate-and were curious as a child. Core behaviors are not easily hidden. Core values are
not easily ignored. Both allow the leader to form the emotional bond with followers that leads to trust.
The Six Pillars of Leadership
What we know to be true about leadership leads us to the six pillars shown in Figure 2. Success rests on
followers embracing (logically and emotionally) the way each of these pillars is expressed by the leader.
This is “Proof of Leadership”. Let’s see how it fairs when applied to iconic leaders (say King and Lincoln),
business leaders (say Jobs at Apple or Mulally at Ford), political leaders (say Clinton or Trump), and most
importantly you-if you want to lead.

3. Figure 2 Proof of Leadership
Applying the “Proof of Leadership” Model
Let’s start with iconic leaders, King and Lincoln. Table 1 shows how easily their leadership instincts fit
into the “Proof of Leadership” model. There are obviously additional values, behaviors, and influencing
techniques that historians would love to debate, and are debating, in each new biography. However, the
essence of these great men is captured by the “Proof of Leadership” model. Their visions need no
debate and are captured in the two most revered American speeches: King’s “I Have a Dream”, and
Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”.
Table 1 Proof of Leadership: Iconic Leaders
LEADERSHIP DIMENSION MARTIN LUTHER KING ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Belief about the world Racism, poverty, and war are the three
major threats to human survival
The union must prevail and slavery
ended if America is to take its place
in the world
Model of how to effect
change in the world
Nonviolence After all else has failed, war
Values Spirituality Compassion
Behavior Nonviolent Confrontation Persistence
The Leader’s
Vision
The Leader’s
Beliefs
The Leader’s Change
Model
The Leader’s
Influence
The Leader’s
Values
The Leader’s
Behavior
FOLLOWERS
PROOF OF
LEADERSHIP

4. Ability to influence Oratory- “ I Have a Dream”
Writing- “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Example-Courage to lead nonviolent
protests in the face of hatred
Oratory: “The Lincoln Douglas
Debates”, The Gettysburg Address”
Writing: “Letter to Horace Greeley”
Vision-who Black, white, vicious racists, my four
little children
Our forefathers, brave men, us
Vision-what They will not be judged by the color of
their skin but by the content of their
character
To be here, dedicated to the great
task remaining before us
Vision-when Five score years from the Emancipation
Proclamation
Four score and seven years ago,
now
Vision-where Prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire
…...to……every hill and molehill of
Mississippi
This continent, a great battlefield
Vision-why One day this nation will rise up and live
out the true meaning of its creed: “We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal”
That government of the people, by
the people, for the people shall not
perish from the earth
Let’s next look at two business leaders. Table 2 shows how the “Proof of Leadership” model is easily
applied to Steve Jobs at Apple, late 1990’s, and Alan Mulally at Ford, early 2000’s.
Table 2 Proof of Leadership: Business Leaders
LEADERSHIP
DIMENSION
STEVE JOBS ALAN MULALLY
Belief about the
world
Late 1990’s-The Apple brand is a
confused mess and we have to define a
key value that Apple stands for. We
must associate the Apple brand with
people that have changed the world
Early 2000’s-Ford has lost its
cultural identity as a force in
human transportation; too many
brands, too many suppliers

5. Model of how to
effect change in
the world
We must challenge ourselves to develop
a branding campaign that is on a par
with the iconic 1984 Apple commercial
We must concentrate on two
brands-Ford and Lincoln and
partner with the union
Values Impacting the world through design
excellence
Engineering
Behavior Challenging the status quo. The very
good is the enemy of changing the
world
Relentless attention to a single
goal
Ability to
influence
Advertising: “Think Different” campaign-
see the ad on YouTube
Assertiveness-while demanding design
excellence
Meeting Facilitation: He turned
the weekly staff meeting from a
useless “tell the Ford family things
are ok” into a transparent “where
are our problems” action oriented
meeting
Vision-who Those people who are willing to think
differently and change the world
One Team-Customer, Employee,
Dealer, Investor, Supplier,
Union/Council, and Community
Vision-what Provide those people a design paradigm
worthy of their commitment to change
the world
Aggressively restructure to
operate profitably and accelerate
development of new products our
customers want and value
Vision-when With each new product delivery Now
Vision-where Globally Globally
Vision-why Because why we do things is more
important than how we do things
Profitable growth for all

6. While much more could be said and debated about these leaders- the model distills the essence of their
approaches to their business worlds.
Now we have some fun and consider the two favorite political leaders from 2016-Hilary Clinton and
Donald Trump. Table 3 shows the “Proof of Leadership” Model applied to their leadership instincts.
Table 3 Proof of Leadership: Political Leaders
LEADERSHIP
DIMENSION
HILARY CLINTON DONALD TRUMP
Belief about the world The world is predictable and proper
policies can generate proper
outcomes
The world is populated by people
who are easily led and are drawn to
the outrageous, aka, “There’s a
sucker born every minute”
Model of how to effect
change in the world
Political power, aka, “Clinton
Incorporated”
Gamble, play the odds, take risks.
Shoot many arrows and see which
stick
Values Privacy Winning
Behavior Wonkishness Failure is not an option
Ability to influence Advertising: $100M on campaign ads
Oratory: Campaign speeches that
relied on logic
Oratory: Campaign speeches that
relied on fear. And let’s face it, he’s
the best bull**** artist you’ve ever
seen.
Bargaining- “The Art of the Deal”
Vision-who Women, Latinos, the LGBT
community, the poor. “I’m with her”
Those without a category to call their
own. “I’m for you”
Vision-what Social policies paid for by increased
taxes on the rich
Stimulate the economy with
government spending and tax cuts.
Otherwise what Obama was doing
rebranded as my ideas
Vision-when As a continuation of Obama’s
presidency
Over the next 4 years

7. Vision-where Where identity politics has a pay off Where people are pissed off
Vision-why To increase political power by
helping those most in need
Why not me. Everyone else has
screwed it up
You can see why training companies believe it’s a no-no to bring politics into leadership training. We do
not all agree with what is shown on Table 3 and could debate it endlessly. But this takes us to a critical
point. Aspiring leaders do not control how potential followers view the leader’s instincts. Trump
supporters may not agree with the previous assessment but it’s hard to argue that a majority of voters
(those who voted for Hilary) didn’t feel it was spot on. Likewise, the assessment of Hilary might seem
harsh to her supporters but a significant number of voters would have been harsher still. Cutting to the
chase-how are you viewed by your followers when stacked up against the six pillars of leadership.
“Proof of Leadership” and You
Table 4 allows you to apply the concepts of the “Proof of Leadership” model to your current situation.
Define a world in which you want to lead-the world of your livelihood, the world of your service
organization, the world of your local community. Identify your followers within this world. Note these
followers are not necessarily those who report to you. They could be your customers, your peers, your
superiors, your fellow citizens. Identify the destination you want to take these followers to. Then take
on Table 4.
Table 4 Proof of Leadership: You
LEADERSHIP DIMENSION YOU HOW ARE YOU PERCEIVED
Belief about the world Your beliefs about your
business world
Do others see your beliefs reflected
in your actions
Model of how to effect
change in the world
How do you effect change in
your world
Do others see you as successful with
these methods
Values What do you truly value Is this value apparent to others
Behavior What behavior do you wish
to project
Do others see your behavior
aligning with your values and beliefs

8. Ability to influence What specific techniques do
you employ
Are they working
Vision-who Your customers and your
team
By your customers, team, and those
who control your future
Vision-what The end state Is it communicated
Vision-when Your timeframe Is it realistic
Vision-where Your sphere of influence Is this sphere acknowledged by
others
Vision-why Do you envision a future in
which all benefit
Can you articulate it
Filling out Table 4 is not a ten-minute exercise. It’s a weekend exercise with plenty of quiet time for
reflection. Identify multiple beliefs, methods, values, behaviors, influencing techniques. Think
about your values and how your behavior is perceived by your followers. Most importantly distill,
distill, distill…. until you get to the essence of what you want to project as a leader. Write it down
and practice verbalizing it. Make sure you have a positive response for each of the questions in the
right-hand column of Table 4.
Not to put too fine a point on it. If you left this good earth tomorrow and your followers had to
describe how you embodied the six pillars would it be a confused mess or as clear as King’s,
Lincoln’s, Jobs’, Mulally’s, or your favorite political leader.
Summary-It’s Simple
Leaders describe a destination that requires change. Followers must be influenced to embrace this
change. We’re all human. Defining leadership is simple. Making it real is hard. But a blueprint
exists- the six pillars of “Proof of Leadership”.
About the Author
Dr John Hogan is a Senior Program Manager at RER Solutions, Inc. and was responsible for RER’s
activation activities for the new VA Orlando Medical Center Hospital. He also teaches Project
Management and Agile Leadership for Learning Tree International. John’s knowledge of project
management is based on 30 years of system engineering & management experience at GE and
Lockheed Martin including roles of Engineering Vice President and Program Vice President.