What is Leadership?

There is a difference between "leading" people to do something and "ordering" people to do something.

A "leader" is a guide, a motivator, a setter of examples, someone who makes an aspiration clear.

What you are looking for to solve your issue is a "boss".

It's 2020, millennials are drinking cappucinos from avocados, iGen is...doing...stuff...with apps...I don't know, anyway, they're all more than willing to quit their jobs and join a hindu retreat to find themselves, being a boss (apparently) won't cut it -

So, how do you get ten people to get a house built?

What would YOU do, when you walk into a room, to convince everyone else in that room your goal is lofty and worthy of their efforts?

JamesSand wrote:

There is a difference between "leading" people to do something and "ordering" people to do something.

A "leader" is a guide, a motivator, a setter of examples, someone who makes an aspiration clear.

What you are looking for to solve your issue is a "boss".

It's 2020, millennials are drinking cappucinos from avocados, iGen is...doing...stuff...with apps...I don't know, anyway, they're all more than willing to quit their jobs and join a hindu retreat to find themselves, being a boss (apparently) won't cut it -

So, how do you get ten people to get a house built?

What would YOU do, when you walk into a room, to convince everyone else in that room your goal is lofty and worthy of their efforts?

Well, if there isn't a clear reason to build the house, I'm not going to want to do it either, let alone try to convince others to do it!

Seriously. If there isn't a clear goal behind the action, nobody is going to take you seriously or listen to you at all.

You need a reason to do it, or nothing's going to happen!

It's as simple as that.

And the reason could be anything! Maybe it's their job to build houses, maybe it's for charity, maybe it's a survival situation and you all need shelter or you are going to die!

But there has to be a reason!

You aren't going to get people to build a house just to build a house (unless they enjoy that kind of thing, but you can consider pleasure as motivation too!)

So that's how I'd do it! I'd give them a reason, and scream at them until they help me! But I'm not going to just order them around, I'm gonna work too. Because that is what a leader does. He or she leads by example, towards a given goal or aspiration, be it practical or ideological.

But there has to be a reason!

You share a vision, you make them "see" things the way you see it. You let them know what is in it for them. Then you hope at least one follows.

I've only skimmed the various replies to the original question (some of which were very well-written!), so I apologize in advance if I reiterate something that's already been said.

I recall from my days as a JROTC cadet in high school (I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the military) being taught that "leadership" is simply motivating another to perform a task. I recall from an introductory political science class that "power" is one causing another to perform an action that they would not otherwise do.

In my experiences, the best leaders I've had were ones that genuinely inspired me to do my best in the service of some cause. They may have had some power over me, but their power did not need to be held over my head to get me to perform.

To sum it up, I think that leadership is simply motivation and inspiration, regardless of whether or not one holds power over those being motivated and inspired.

Create job descriptions for construction roles equal to the number of ppl present (X}, associate a share of the value in the resultant house accordingly. Generate a fair use clause and postulate a market need for the house with example values.
Give everyone a small base proportion regardless of participation.
Generate a tiered work schedule for each task, starting with fundamental activities to that tasking, with associated metric for each. Divide that first phase by X for each task, then run X number of measured efforts where applicants demonstrate skills in each task. Leader demonstrates how in each before testing. Publish results and invite one task per person based on demonstrated work merit. Leader does those assignments not taken, if not picked up by others who have not chosen their assigned. Generate a hugely ambitious change order and sell the land underneath the project to a developer walking away with the profits yourself... :silly: :whistle: