Extract from our Leadership ebook

Any book about leadership should commence with a description of what we mean by leaders and leadership. Whilst we know that leaders are individuals who influence the members of groups and represent their views, leadership itself is not so easy to explain. Some would argue that it is situations which create leaders and others would argue that it is the characteristics of the individual themselves which determines whether they go on to become leaders.

What is Leadership?

Before we go further, we should define what leadership is. Generally speaking, leadership is the movement of others towards a clear goal or direction of the leader. The leader will guide or direct others to achieve the leader’s vision for the group. One of the difficulties in defining leadership is that it is that it is hard to elucidate exactly what makes certain people leaders.  Leadership can be considered to involve personal qualities and behaviours demonstrated by a person’s accomplishment in a particular field. For example, a person may be a leader in business, information technology, sport, education, voluntary work, and so on. They might also be a leader during a particular time. For instance during wartime, a crisis, an election, or a strike. Leadership is also often considered to be part of organisational behaviour, which in some ways is similar to management. However, being in charge of a business or organisation does not necessarily make a good leader. Leadership, therefore, is not a simple concept and it is little wonder that many researchers have spent many years examining the nature and scope of this intriguing behaviour. 

Being in Charge or Being a Leader?

Leadership is not necessarily the same as being in charge of something.  Whilst leaders often have some degree of authority so too do many other people. For instance, a security guard patrolling the perimeter of a building may be in charge, but this in itself does not make them a leader. Gibb has argued that 'headship' means holding a position in an official hierarchy. It does not necessarily mean that a person is a leader. A person in charge of an organisation may not necessarily have influence over the people in the group, and it is this influence which is an integral part of leadership. Leadership means having the capacity to influence, to encourage others to behave in a particular way. Therefore, if the head of an organisation cannot influence others, then they are not necessarily a leader. 

Is Leadership the Same As Power?

The concepts of leadership and power do have a lot in common. Many believe that certain people are leaders because they can exercise superior power.  We may consider it impossible for a leader to be a leader without having some degree of power. Therefore, power and leadership have become confused.  Lapierre defines leadership as a behaviour that affects the behaviour of other people, rather than the behaviour of the people affecting the leader.   So the leader is able to influence the behaviour of people, more than people can influence the behaviour of the leader. 

Pigor also states that leadership is a concept that is used to apply to a personality that is placed in a situation where it directs and controls the pursuit of a common cause. Terry argues that leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive to mutual objectives, whilst Allen argues that leadership is an activity aimed at persuading people to cooperate towards achieving a common objective.  In light of these different perspectives, we might conclude that leadership involves the attempt to affect the behaviour of others. Power is not the same thing.

Where leadership generally suggests that following the leader is optional, power suggests an ability to control or command others, where the person does not have the option to follow – they are either forced to follow, or are so overwhelmed by the power that they follow without thinking. When we think of historical leaders, we generally think of people that inspired others to greatness, such as Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi. If we think of people in history with a lot of power, we think of political dictators, or people such as Adolf Hitler, who had control over people without them necessarily having a choice. Power, of course, does not have to be a bad thing. In combination with high integrity, a leader with power can create the extraordinary.

In the home environment, the difference between power and leadership can be demonstrated in a different way - a baby has the power to change the behaviour of his/her parents, but this influence is not the same as leadership in the family.