An oft-quoted, though probably apocryphal, story of a French politician tells of him looking out his window to see a crowd of people rushing past as if in a parade headed to some grand event. Recognizing what was happening, he excuses himself and finds his way outside saying, "There goes my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader."

Maybe this story is about political leaders following a constituency's will or a sincere reminder to listen to one's followers. Perhaps it is simply a cynical summary, suggesting too many people claim leadership when none is really at play.

Interestingly, versions of this quote are attributed to Gandhi and to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who is quoted as saying, "I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?"

Despite the possible interpretations, it does remind us there is something of common sense about the idea that a leader should have followers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead—and find no one there."

Many of us may have known individuals who thought they were leaders, but no one seemed to follow them. Some who think they are leaders misunderstand that having a title or rank—having a position in the organizational hierarchy—does not necessarily mean they are demonstrating leadership.

People will do what those in organizational authority ask them to do, but such compliance is not the stuff of real leadership per se. Another of Gandhi's quotes suggests this difference: "I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles [or organizational authority]; but today it means getting along with people."

While it may be the hallmark of management to get others to conform to the manager's wishes—to do things the manager wants done the way the manager wants them to do it—leadership is about getting other people to follow willingly and voluntarily. It is about helping people choose to follow you and your cause.

A Voluntary Decision

Followers, as compared to subordinates for instance, voluntarily decide to listen, to be influenced by, and to be uplifted because of leaders. So the real questions of leadership include: What is it that makes people choose to follow, to emulate, to support, to serve? And why will people follow some but not others?

Of the many theories of leadership, those that suggest a values foundation to leadership offer a convincing response. The answers lie somewhere in the idea that values are a person's de facto decision criteria.

A person's voluntary decision to accept a would-be leader's influence begins by agreeing with or wanting to be identified by the leader's values and purposes. Such leadership depends upon the free choice of both leader and follower in developing a relationship of mutual respect, collaborative work, and edification, or what historian and political scientist James MacGregor Burns wisely called "transforming leadership." This type of leadership is based on voluntary decisions by leader and follower to choose to influence and be influenced.

The Four Vs of Leadership

One way to think of the work of leadership, then, is to figure out how to get people to choose to follow. A simple framework may help. It begins with the idea of values and ends with the principle of choice.

In between are the leader activities of explaining what the values do for us and showing what we have to do to make these important things happen. This framework can be called the Four Vs of leadership: values, vision, vectors, and voice (see Figure 1).

Values. People's values serve them in interesting ways. They offer standards of behavior. They offer guidelines for self-analysis. They provide measurements of right and wrong.

Values are the decision criteria of what we should and should not do, of what we think is truly good and beautiful to pursue. Because values help us make choices, leadership has a lot to do with people's values and how those values are defined, adopted, and applied so as to choose to follow.

Leaders inspire, perhaps, because they are themselves inspired by certain values they believe are appropriate, useful, or right. Then others feel or eventually come to feel the same and choose to follow.

Without a clear commitment to and statement of values, followers cannot easily or consistently choose to follow. It is not easy to follow someone who changes what he or she values all the time.

Few things are more frustrating to potential followers than to have a leader who goes all over the place. How does one know what is important or how one's work fits into the overall purpose if the decision criteria change?

What is left is a decision not to follow because it is too difficult to see where the "leader" is going. What emerges is compliant employees doing what they are told, not rocking the boat by asking too many clarifying questions (the answers to which are not forthcoming anyway).

Real leadership asks leader and follower to deal with each other on a values basis, so a choice to follow is available. Though this may not be easy, it is essential.

Vision. Vision operationalizes, or puts into practice, values. Vision is a manifestation of values; it makes values real. It informs people about who they really are or what an organization really stands for.

Vision reminds us that leadership is about helping others see values in action. One writer described vision as a shared image of a desirable future and a reflection of our fundamental values, beliefs, and assumptions about the world springing out of our past knowledge, experience, and intuition, and about the direction the organization should take to reach the desirable.

Visions make our ideals more real as we can see the result of our beliefs and actions. They are often expressed in stories or in the example of a leader at work.

The leadership element of vision asks us to be able to see not only with our head, but also with our heart. It makes sense, but it also feels right; and it is from that combination that a leader makes the choice to lead and a follower makes the choice to follow.

Vectors. As leaders outline work vectors, they help followers see the path to fulfilling the vision. One meaning for vector is the direction and magnitude of something.

More precisely for our purposes, vectors deal with the what, the where to, the how, and the how much of what we are to do in order to fulfill the vision. It is the work of leadership to outline the vectors to be done, the steps to be taken, or the path to follow, as well as make sure our vision is realized and our values fulfilled.

The word comes from Latin's original meaning "to carry or to convey." In this sense, vectors carry the vision forward in terms of outlining actual things to do at work to make the vision a reality.

These vectors might be more commonly called objectives, key result areas, critical success factors, long-term goals, strategic goals, or mission elements. Whatever they are called, they link directly to the vision because it is the way we are to fulfill it, and therefore, relate directly to the values that make us who we are. If we like the linkages and the work to be done, we choose to follow.

It is that linkage that is partially the beauty and the purpose of leadership. People like to know where they stand and how their work fits together with the overall organization. Vectors play a key role in making sure these connections happen.

Voice. Voice in the leadership relationship is the most vital. To be basic, voice is about choice. It has to do with volition, freedom, or individual agency to act for oneself.

Voice reminds us that where there is no choice in the relationship among people, there can be no leadership. At best, perhaps there is management; at worst, there is oppression or tyranny or manipulation or authoritarianism acting upon people.

Usually, as you formally join a group, you are told that so-and-so is your supervisor or team leader, and during orientation you most likely have a chance to meet this person. We do not often get to choose our managers.

We do, however, always, always choose who we follow. We always choose our leaders. Ultimately, that choice is based on the values, the vision, and the vectors that the leader has outlined and with which we agree or to which we have a desire to become united.

Voice reminds us that understanding leadership has more to do with understanding the followers than it does understanding someone who holds a position of authority. This is because whether someone is ultimately a leader depends entirely on whether another person chooses to follow him or her.

Making the Four Vs Real

Leaders recognize that followers are, of their own volition, choosing to engage with the values, vision, and vectors they outline. Values trigger behavior and reflect meaning, purpose, and commitment of both leader and follower.

Vision operationalizes the values set, making sense for others what the values really mean or what they can do for us now and in the future. Vectors operationalize the magnitude and direction of vision-driven activity and work and mirror the concepts of organization mission and objectives.

Voice stresses that leadership is an activity of individual agency and free will. It is shorthand for that which makes the leadership relationship work—the nature of the interaction or lack thereof between leader and follower.

The four Vs emphasize that the leadership relationship is essentially a voluntary one based on the level of alignment with the values, vision, and vectors at play. How well we get others to choose to follow us depends upon our capacity to make the Four Vs real.

Otherwise, we will be chasing after people, pretending to be their leader and experiencing all the frustrations, ineffectiveness, and deterioration that come with self-deception.