Definition of leadership(3)

Studies of leadership have suggested qualities that people often associate with leadership. They include:

•Talent and technical/specific skill at some task at hand.

•Initiative and entrepreneurial drive

•Charismatic inspiration - attractiveness to others and the ability to leverage this esteem to motivate others

•Preoccupation with a rôle - a dedication that consumes much of leaders' life - service to a cause.

• A clear sense of mission - clear goals - focus - commitment

•Results-orientation - directing every action towards a mission - prioritizing activities to spend time where results most accrue

•Optimism - very few pessimists become leaders

•Rejection of determinism - belief in one's ability to "make a difference"

•Ability to encourage and nurture those that report to them - delegate in such a way as people will grow

•Rôle models - take on a persona that encapsulates the mission - lead by example Leadership and vision

No matter how one defines leadership, it always involves an element of vision -- except in cases like involuntary leadership, collective leadership, concensus leadership, negotiated leadership, etc.

A leader (or group of leaders) must have a vision of the future or of the past or of the present and must succeed in communicating such a vision to others. This vision, for effectiveness, should allegedly:

•appear as a simple, yet vibrant, image in the mind of the leader

•describe a future/past/present state, credible and preferable to the present/past/future state •act as a bridge between the current state and a future optimum state

•appear desirable enough to energize followers

•succeed in speaking to followers at an emotional or spiritual level (logical appeals by themselves seldom create a following; practical alternatives don't count)

For leadership to occur, the vision must be communicated to others in such a way that they adopt the vision as their own. Leaders must not just see the vision themselves, they must be capable of getting others to see it also. Numerous techniques are used to do this including: narratives, metaphors, symbolic actions, leading by example, incentives, and penalties.

It has been claimed, by Stacey (1992), that the emphasis on vision puts an unrealistic burden on the leader. It is said to perpetuate the myth that on organization must depend on a single uncommonly talented individual to decide what to do. He claims that this fosters a culture of dependency and conformity in which followers take no proactive incentives nor think independently.

Leadership and management