The leadership that each of us demonstrate is an explicit example for others to model and emulate.  Others look towards us and our leadership and draw conclusions that the behaviours and actions that we demonstrate are what it takes to be a leader in our organizations - good or bad.  And while you might not consciously be thinking about modeling the leadership behaviours that you want the next generation of leaders to have, you are teaching them nonetheless.  And so it is incumbent upon each of us to consciously model the behaviours and actions we want future leaders to have and to actively teach others to be even better leaders.  

In their teachings, Indigenous people talk about making decisions today for the benefit of people seven generations from now.  From a  leadership perspective we can apply that same principle in the form of that we are not just trying to grow and develop the next generation of leaders, those to immediately replace us, but we are teaching leaders to grow and develop other leaders seven generations down the line.  When you take the long view about the responsibilities you have as a leader, consciously modeling and teaching leadership becomes a much more active and involved responsibility.

The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there. John Buchan

The single biggest way to impact an organisation is to focus on Leadership Development. John C. Maxwell

To help others develop, start with yourself! When the boss acts like a little god and tells everyone else they need to improve, that behavior can be copied at every level of management. Every level then points out how the level below it needs to change. The end result: No one gets much better. Marshall Goldsmith

Growing other leaders from the ranks isn’t just the duty of the leader, it’s an obligation. Warren Bennis