Compliance is one of those bullying words. It contains an implicit appeal to some authority other than our correspondent. To accuse another of not being compliant - or to use another bullying term "in breach"  - conveys nothing of the correspondent's disposition. They weasel out of taking a stand or offering an opinion; they merely do what they see as their job in reminding us of our obligations to the relevant policy. The reification of policies or rules undermines the leader's positional power. They made the rules, they of all people should be able to provide a rationale for an action beyond a lazy referral to a sub-clause. There is nothing brave or inspiring in this purely administrative interaction. It is not the stuff of leaders.

Ratification is another good one. After Kevin Rudd's allusion to the sex lives of rats in describing Chinese approaches to carbon emissions policy, ratification too often means that we are about to undergo an inter-species rodent mating ritual that Rudd found so painful all those years ago. Ultimately ratification is an administrative process, and in putting such store in the ratification of an agreement, Rudd undermined his leadership.

Great leaders almost never talk about themselves, cult leaders do little else. Great leaders never have public identity crises, they do not tell us that we are about to witness the real Julia, for instance. Even Ms Gillard has now conceded that she made a rookie mistake, and undermined her leadership in the process.

When leaders start getting embroiled in compliance, ratification and self-talk, you have the receipt for a crisis of confidence, and a potentially fatal inversion of an organisation. Great organisations put their people first, their customers second, and policy and procedures a distant last. Great leaders talk about their people first, their customers second and eschew talk of policies and procedures. However, when this gets turned on its head, nothing happens until first everything is ratified and compliant, the result is stagnation. But at least it is compliant stagnation. As Indian businessman and author of Employees First, Customers Second, Vineet Nayar says of employees "just give them the tools and get out of their way".

Great leaders are able to interpret the narrative of an organisation, to remind everyone why they are there, and why their contributions are so important. They reflect, develop and enlarge the visions, values and value of an organisation. Of course, in the wake of this comes policy that interprets the vision and guides the practice. No organisation can last for long without this essential administrative function, but great leaders never confuse leadership with administration.

Jim Bright is Professor of Career Education and Development at ACU and a partner at Bright and Associates. Email opinion@jimbright.com. Follow @DrJimBright.