Leadership has almost become a four-letter word. We seem to have a crisis of leadership where we can almost expect leaders to abuse power, mislead, and operate by double-standards. Each day brings another news story about a failed trust, greed, lust or some other disappointment perpetrated by the very people we once looked up to.

What can we do about the lack of responsible leadership? Should we join the world in a mad every-man-for-himself rush or hunker down like hermits bent only on self preservation? Should we hoard our resources and “look out for number one?”

The solution to a crisis of leadership lies in a call to restore the integrity of leadership or the character of leadership. But we must do it in a way that fits our modern time. We don’t need the strong silent, John Wayne type of go-it-alone-at-any-cost leadership. We don’t need leaders who separate themselves from their followers. We need leaders who identify with followers, in fact we need leaders that can follow. We need leaders who serve a purpose higher than themselves – that of the group. We need the old-school integrity, but with new skills of collaboration and engagement to serve people in pursuit of a common goal. Some call this servant leadership, or stewardship. We call this character-based leadership.

But we also need results. There are enough posters, books and blogs about leadership. In fact, there is more written about leadership in the very day that we experience the crisis. We need action. We not only need leadership, we need positive change. And change today (as always) comes about through small groups of committed individuals. Enter the Lead Change Group.

The Lead Change Group is a community of people practicing character-based leadership by building community, and then engaging and mobilizing strengths and passions of that community to create positive change. We help one another in small groups dedicated to helping one another strengthen our character, improve our influence and leadership skills resulting in positive difference in our society. We share ideas that come from these small groups in a general members area where others can take advantage of the learning to self-develop at their own pace. And we come together, face to face at un-conferences like LeaderPalooza 2010 and virtually in communities on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to encourage, equip, energize and enable one another to change our world.

Would you join us?

What do you have to lose?