BNET Business Dictionary
Business Definition for: Leadership
- the capacity to establish direction and to influence and align others toward a common goal, motivating and committing them to action and making them responsible for their performance. Leadership theory is one of the most discussed areas of management, and many different approaches are taken to the topic. Some notions of leadership are related to types of authority delineated by Max Weber. It is often suggested that leaders possess innate personal qualities that distinguish them from others: great man theory and trait theory express this idea. Other theories, such as Behaviorist theories of leadership, suggest that leadership is defined by action and behavior, rather than by personality. A related idea is that leadership style is not fixed but should be adapted to different situations, and this is explored in contingency theory and situational theory. A further branch of research that examines relationships between leaders and followers is found in transactional, transformational, attribution, and power and influence theories of leadership. Perhaps the most simple model of leadership is action-centered leadership, which focuses on what an effective leader actually does. These many approaches and differences of opinion illustrate the complexity of the leadership role and the intangibility of the essence of good leadership.
Wiktionary Definition for: Leadership
- dated The office of a leader.
- The characteristics of a leader (one who leads).
Additional Resources
- Building Your Leadership Skills
- There are many myths about leaders, one being that "leaders are born and not made."The truth is, several factors contribute to the development of a leader. Obviously, the leader's personal qualities are important, but also critical are the needs of the people being led and the objective they are pursuing....
- Articles 2007-10-04
- Leadership Lessons from Eliot Spitzer
- Leadership Lessons from Eliot SpitzerBEYOND LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT...Beyond MANAGEMENT and LEADERSHIP:Behold LEADAGEMENT BISIKAY, Director, The Global LEADAGEMENT Institute, London, U K. bisikay@gmail.com / leadagement@gmail.comINTRODUCTIONMANAGEMENT'S NEXT BIG IDEA..."LEADAGEMENT!"I have come to realise that once we moved away from MANAGERIALISM to, and, from the LEADERSHIP models of EXECUTIVE deployment and development,...
- Discussion threads 2008-03-13
- Developing a Thought Leadership Strategy
- Thought leadership gives a company credibility, which helps influence decision-makers. Articles in important publications, speaking appearances at industry events, well-produced customer magazines, white papers, podcasts, and Webcasts can all help to position a company as a thought leader to build preference for the company's products and services. What You...
- Articles 2007-11-20
- Do Strong Leaders Destroy Leadership?
- Do Strong Leaders Destroy Leadership?RE: Do Strong Leaders Destroy Leadership?By strong, do you mean pompous? I don't completely agree with your interpretation of strong. Leadership is about empowering, bringing people together, providing a cohesive vision and motivating. None of this can be effective without listening and some level of...
- Discussion threads 2008-10-10
- Through Their Own Words: Towards a New Understanding of Leadership through Metaphors
- This article suggests that metaphors are essential to understanding leadership. Metaphors can serve as underlying organizing structures of leadership thinking and experience, and they can be mobilized in order to accomplish interpersonal goals. The literature on leadership abounds with metaphors such as leadership as game, sports, art or machine. While...
- White papers 2002-10-01
- What's Your Leadership Style?
- What's Your Leadership Style?RE: What's Your Leadership Style?You bring back.....memories of grad school. Lots of theory and models. As a senior leader I rarely meditated on theory or leadership models (although I did do this for my comprehensives!) Leadership today needs to be performance-based, behavioral and...
- Discussion threads 2008-02-21
- Poll: What Leadership Style Do You Prefer?
- Poll: What Leadership Style Do You Prefer?Noth that simpleIn reality nobody practice any of theese leadership styles. In real life experienced people combine some or all of theese traits in different situations. That said people usually have a dominant trait that will apply in most cases.RE: Poll: What Leadership Style...
- Discussion threads 2008-02-22
- Do Strong Leaders Destroy Leadership?
- Â Google "leadership" and you'll get around 163 million entries. Search Amazon for books on leadership and you'll get 39,000 results. A search for leadership articles takes you into the millions. Leadership isn't a concept, it's an industry. The modern business press have glorified...
- Blog posts 2008-10-06
- Centered leadership: How talented women thrive
- A new approach to leadership can help women become more self-confident and effective business leaders. Women start careers in business and other professions with the same level of intelligence, education, and commitment as men. Yet comparatively few reach the top echelons. This...
- Articles 2008-10-23
- The Real Difference Between Leadership and Management
- What is the difference between leadership and management? I should know: I have written both How to Lead and How to Manage. But I recently discovered the definitive answer: leadership sells better than management. There are lots of people out there who want to be leaders, but...
- Blog posts 2009-09-24
- Exclusive BNET Australia reader offers from The Creative Leadership Forum
- As a part of our new partnership with The Creative Leadership Forum we’re pleased to announce that we have 25 free passes --- exclusive to BNET Australia readers --- to The Sound of Leadership. On September 2, The Creative Leadership Forum will be hosting a two-hour workshop...
- Blog posts 2008-08-08
- When Does Leadership Matter? The Contingent Opportunities View of CEO Leadership
- Despite the large literature on leadership, previous studies have diverged in their assessments of the impact of CEOs on company performance. The debate has focused on the question of "Does leadership matter?" The "leadership" proponents state that leadership is a critical factor in organizational performance. On the other side of...
- White papers 2001-04-01
- A Comprehensive Leadership Education Model to Train, Teach, and Develop Leadership in Youth
- To develop the conceptual model for a coherent curriculum in leadership development, the researchers evaluated an array of materials that evaluated and described the construct of leadership. Through evaluation of each of the differences, similarities, and needs of adolescents, five dimensions of leadership development were identified. These are leadership knowledge...
- White papers 2003-01-01
- Developing Leadership Through Adult and Adolescent Partnerships in the Third Millennium
- Leadership educators must consider how to most effectively develop youth knowledge, skills, attitudes, aspirations and leadership abilities when facilitating leadership development. During the first two millennia, leadership was adultcentered, with little focus on development. To develop effective leadership programs, it is essential that leadership educators: consider the implications of societal...
- White papers 2002-01-01
- The Role Of Traits, Motives, And Charisma In Leadership
- Leadership is the process of influencing others towards the attainment of certain pre-defined goals. Leadership style refers to the methodology adopted by the leader to carry out the roles and responsibilities of the leadership process. According to the trait approach to leadership, the leadership style is affected and influenced by...
- Presentations 2003-01-01
- Managerial Leadership: Chapter 1
- "In 'Managerial Leadership' professor and consultant Peter Topping outlines a comprehensive approach to leadership that works, one that recognizes the interactions between the leader, the task, and the followers. Discussing the competencies and principles that define leadership throughout an organization, and featuring case studies of benchmark organizations from Coca-Cola and...
- White papers 2004-07-01
- Is Your Leadership Is Effective?
- In many ways, good leadership is hard to define. It can't be directly measured. There's no leadership "Score" or report card. In fact often the measure of leadership is qualitative rather than quantitative - although quantitative results always follow. So, the questions remains, how can you tell if your leadership...
- White papers 2008-01-01
- Is Servant Leadership Part Of Your Worldview?
- Leadership is about the way person perceives and treats him and how he treats others. Personal leadership involves the former; social and organizational leadership involves the latter. The two are interrelated. Servant leadership involves a mature worldview that chooses service over self-interest. Mature people recognize joint accountability. Achieving a high...
- White papers 2003-01-01
- Follow-Up: A Valuable Tool in Leadership Development
- In many respects, leadership development is like an exercise regimen. To have the best chance of success, each should be approached as a process rather than an event. It is seen that although distinct leadership-building events do occur, leadership development takes place over time. In both leadership development and fitness...
- White papers 2001-03-01
- Leadership in Turbulent Times : The New Scorecard
- Leaders must be realistic with themselves as well as others about what it takes to be successful. Crises require an acknowledgement that things will change and then change again. Organizations that survive and then thrive understand that complacency can be deadly. The real leadership challenge is to ensure that organizations...
- White papers 2003-01-01
