Leadership

Leadership can refer both to the process of leading, and to those entities that do the leading. The process of leadership can be actual or potential:

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• actual - giving guidance or direction, as in the phrase "the emperor has provided satisfactory leadership"
• potential - the capacity or ability to lead, as in the phrase "she could have exercised effective leadership"

Leadership can have a formal aspect (as in most political or business leadership) or an informal one (as in most friendships). Speaking of "leadership" (the abstract term) rather than of "leading" (the simple action) usually implies that the entities doing the leading have some "leadership skills" or competencies. Several types of entities may provide or exhibit leadership, actual or potential, including:

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• a person in the position or office of authority, such as a President http://www.cer.org.uk/articles/times_grant0702.html
• a person in a position of office associated with expertise, skill, or experience, as in a team leader, a chief engineer, or a parent
• a group or person in the vanguard of some trend or movement, as in fashion trend-setters
• a group of respected people, (called a "reference group" by sociologists) such as business commentators or union spokespersons http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/04/01/milton_030401
• a product that influences other product offerings in a competitive marketplace

The term "leadership" can characterise the leadership given by an entity and also the period of the leadership, as in "During the 1940s Russia was under Stalinist leadership". In formal ] the term can also serve to describe the position or relationships which allow and legitimize the exercising of leadership behaviour.

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James MacGregor Burns (1978, p. 2) wrote that a study of the definition of the word leadership revealed 130 definitions. However, several generally-accepted variations on the definition appear in the management and leadership literature.

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George Terry (Terry, G. 1960) has defined leadership as: "the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objectives". If we define leadership simply as "influencing others to some purpose" and we define followership as "becoming influenced by others to accept (willingly or un willingly) some purpose", then leadership and followership emerge as two sides of the same coin. In this scenario, leadership - whether successful or not - has not occurred until at least one follower joins in. Likewise, no followership exists without someone or something (not necessarily a leader) to follow. However, in this latter case, a "leader" need not exercise deliberate or even conscious leadership - that is, followers can follow someone who is not trying to lead. Some see "unconscious leadership" as a dubious concept, however. Many, using a different definition of leadership, would claim that it does not classify as leadership at all - simply because no deliberate intention to lead exists. Unconscious "leading by example" (as the phrase has it) may nevertheless exemplify such "leadership".

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"Leadership" can come from an individual, a collective group of leaders, or even from the disincarnate -- if not mystical -- characteristics of a celebrity figurehead (compare hero). Yet other usages have a "leadership" which does little active leading, but to which followers show great (often traditional) respect (compare the courtesy title reverend). Followers often endow the leader with status or prestige. Aside from the prestige-role sometimes granted to inspirational leaders, a more mundane usage of the word "leadership" can designate current front-runners that exercise influenc over competitors, for example, a corporation or a product can hold a position of "market leadership" without any implication of permanence or of merited respect. (See also price leadership.) Note that the ability to influence others does form an integral part of the "leadership" of some but not all front-runners. A front-runner in a sprint may "lead" the race, but does not have a position of "leadership" if he does not have the potential to influence others in some way. Thus one can make an important distinction between "being in the lead" and the process of leadership. Leadership implies a relationship of power - the power to guide others.

Related Topics:
Figurehead - Hero - Respect - Reverend - Prestige - Inspiration - Corporation - Product - Market - Price leadership - Power - Guide

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In some languages the term for a leader and the term for the principle of leadership have very different meanings. Furthermore, note the different connotations of a synonym of the word "leader" adopted from the German: the word Führer, and its acompanying ideas on the Führerprinzip.

Related Topics:
Führer - Führerprinzip

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In would-be controlling groups such as the military, political parties, ruling élites, and other belief-based enterprises like religions or businesses, the idea of leadership can become a Holy Grail and people can come to expect transformational change stemming from the leader; such entities may encourage their followers and believers to worship leadership, to respect it, and to strive (whether realistically or not) to become proficient in it. Followers in such a situation may become uncritically obedient. Personal strategies that one can use to guard against the unrealistic expectations associated with belief in leaders include maintaining a questioning and skeptical attitude, and having confidence in one's own decision-making abilities. Within groups, alternatives to the cult of leadership include using decision structures such as co-operative ventures, collegiality, consensus, anarchism and applied democracy.

Related Topics:
Political parties - élite - Belief - Religion - Business - Holy Grail - Transformational - Obedient - Co-operative - Collegiality - Consensus - Anarchism - Democracy

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Leadership: Leadership associated with a position of authority ►