Sam Shriver: Leadership Is Multi-Directional

Cris: From what I've read about your company and the training you do, leadership isn't always on a grand scale. It is not just a company's CEO who demonstrates leadership. It can be someone within a company, or within a group within a company.

Sam Shriver, Senior Vice President at The Center for Leadership Studies: That's a big piece of what we do. We define leadership as an attempt to influence. First off, leadership is multi-directional. It is not just top down. 

Leadership includes that, but it also includes peer influence and upward influence. It's pervasive. It's what you do at work, it's what you do at home, it's what you do in your social setting. Anytime you're attempting to influence the behavior of another person, you're attempting to lead. That's the ballpark that we play in.

I think, at least in our circles, that we're really changing the paradigm around which leadership is viewed. You want people coming into your company, saying, "Here's how this could be better. This is how this works. This is what it looks like." 

In many cases, creativity and really new, fresh ideas, that's where they come from. 

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