A position is a platform on which to stand and lead. The position is not leadership. I think “positional leadership” is an oxymoron. One doesn’t need a position to lead and a position has nothing to do with leadership.
Positional in “positional leadership” seems to be used as an adjective that describes leadership. A position represents power, authority, control, the ability to coerce a follower to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do if they had a choice. That’s exactly what leadership is not.
Leadership is about inspiring greatness in people and empowering them to achieve it. If anything, a “management position” may be a better term than “leadership position”. A position is really authority or power to “rule” over people. One can use power to manage people but one cannot use power to lead people. Having said that, a position can make it easier for a leader to lead because a position can make it easier for people to even listen to you, giving you the opportunity to lead them much more easily.
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