What is Leadership? Where do we find it?

I have been reading blogs and articles on leadership and what it is or is not.  The other day I was working with a client who argued with me whether leadership was a moment-by-moment opportunity (my premise) or positional only.    

I have no patience for those of us who choose to abdicate our responsibilities to speak up, take action, lead the way, because we are not in designated leadership positions.  To me that is cowardice - a strong word, I know.  Jim Stroup writes in his blog Managing Leadership that there are no leadership characteristics, no matter how hard we try to identify some.  I don't know that I think that we are all leaders all the time.  I think not. I think that we all have our moments of abdicating on our responsibilities - on things that we see that need to be changed but we don't have the spine or energy to do so.  Even leaders that I generally admire have their faults -their areas that they can't bring their clear insight and inner courage to the situation.

Maybe that is a way of letting myself off the hook for my own many situations of abdication. But I think it is indeed true.

Leadership, situational or positional?  Where do you stand and why?