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:

Leadership amongst primates

Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson, in Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence present the empirical evidence that only humans and chimpanzees, among all the animals living on earth, share a similar tendency for violence, territoriality, and competition for uniting behind the one chief male of the land. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/demonicmales.htm (Note the status of chimpanzees as humans' closest species-relatives: humans inherited 98% of their genes from the ancestors of the chimpanzees.

Related Topics:
Humans - Chimpanzees - Animals - Earth - Violence - Territoriality - Competition

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By comparison, bonobos, the second-closest species-relatives of man, do not unite behind the chief male of the land. The bonobos show deference to an alpha or top-ranking female that, with the support of her coalition of other females, is as strong as the strongest male in the land. Thus, if leadership amounts to getting the greatest number of followers, then among the bonobos, a female almost always exerts the strongest and most effective leadership.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some have argued that, since the bonobo pattern inverts the dominant pattern among chimpanzees and men with regard to whether a female can get more followers than a male, humans and chimpanzees both likely inherited gender-bias against women from the ancestors of the chimpanzees; gender-bias features as a genetic condition of men. And the bias against women having leadership as a position of authority occurs in most cultures in the world. As of 2002, Sweden had the highest percentage of women in the legislature: but only 43%. And the United States, Andorra, Israel, Sierra Leone, and Ireland tied for 57th place with less than 15% of the legislature women. http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm Admittedly, those percentages significantly outclass the occurrence of female chimpanzees becoming alpha of the community by getting the most followers, but similar trends exist in manifesting a general gender-bias across cultures against females getting leadership as a position of authority over followers.

Related Topics:
Gender-bias - Genetic - Men - Culture - Alpha

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An alternative explanation suggests that those individuals best suited to lead the a group will (mysteriously and mystically) rise to the occasion. In other words, the traits of the leaders (such as gender, aggressiveness, etc.) will depend on the requirements of a given situation, and ongoing leadership may become extrapolated from such a situation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In cultural anthropology, much speculation on the origins of human leadership relates to the perceived increasing need for dispute resolution in increasingly densely-populated and increasingly complex societies.

Related Topics:
Cultural anthropology - Dispute resolution - Societies

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Leadership cycles

If a group or an organisation wants or expects identifiable leadership, it will require processes for appointing/acquiring and replacing leaders.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Traditional closed groups rely on bloodlines or seniority to select leaders and/or leadership candidates: monarchies, tribal chiefdoms, oligarchies and aristocratic societies rely on (and often define their institutions by) such methods.

Related Topics:
Bloodlines - Seniority - Monarchies - Tribal - Chiefdom - Oligarchies - Aristocratic - Institution

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Competence or perceived competence provides a possible basis for selecting leadership elites more broadly. Political lobbying may prove necessary in electoral systems, but immediately demonstrated skill and character may secure leadership in smaller groups such as gangs.

Related Topics:
Elite - Lobbying - Electoral system - Skill - Character - Gang

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many organizations and groups aim to identify, foster and promote leadership potential or ability - especially among younger members of society. See for example the Scouting movement. For a specific environment, see leadership development.

Related Topics:
Scouting - Leadership development

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The issues of succession planning or legitimation become important at times when leadership might or must change due to term-expiry, accident or senescence.

Related Topics:
Succession planning - Senescence

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Titles emphasizing authority

In the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, several political operators took non-traditional paths to become dominant in their societies. They or their systems often expressed a belief in strong individual leadership, but existing titles and labels ("king", "emperor", "president" and so on) often seemed inappropriate, insufficient or downright inaccurate in the circumstances. The formal or informal titles or descriptions they or their flunkeys employed express and foster a general veneration for leadership of the inspired and autocratic variety. The definite article when used as part of the title (in languages which have have definite articles) emphasises the existence of a sole "true" leader. Cases include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Caudillos in Spanish-speaking countries, notably Spain's Francisco Franco
• Il Duce in Italy - Benito Mussolini
• Der Führer in Germany - Adolf Hitler
• The Dear Leader in North Korea - Kim Jong-il
• The Great Helmsman in China - Mao Zedong
• The Great Leader in North Korea - Kim Il-sung
• Poglavnik in Croatia - Ante Pavelić
• Vozhd in the Soviet Union - Joseph Stalin

The respective etymologies of these titles suggest various images of leadership: that of a "driver" (Führer, Vozhd), of a "head" (Caudillo, Poglavnik), or of someone followed (Duce).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Such titles, and even the personal names associated with them, may also appear with reference -- often jocular -- to heirs and would-be imitators. Thus people may continue to speak of little Hitlers in a workplace or refer to a non-collegial prime minister ironically as The Great Helmsman. Compare the way in which the personal family name Caesar and the adopted by-name Augustus became effectively titles or designations for successive heads of the Roman Empire.

Related Topics:
Caesar - Augustus - Roman Empire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South Pacific traditions of the "Big Man" express perhaps most succinctly the idea of leadership in all aspects of society, all bound up in a suggestively direct title.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~