Leadership Defined

Leadership is the process of directing the behavior of others toward the accomplishment of some common objectives.

12 Leadership Roles

"Leadership is influencing people to get things done to a standard and quality above their norm. And doing it willingly."¹⁵

As an element in social interaction, leadership is a complex activity involving:

1. a process of influence

2. actors who are both leaders and followers

3. a range of possible outcomes – the achievement of goals, but also the commitment of individuals to such goals, the enhancement of group cohesion and the reinforcement of change of organizational culture.¹⁶

Building Better Leaders through Attributes

Leadership attributes are the inner or personal qualities that constitute effective leadership. These attributes include a large array of characteristics such as values, character, motives, habits, traits, motives, style, behaviors, and skills.

Leadership Attributes

The Leader Is Best, When...

By: Lao Tzu

The leader is best,...

When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,

The people say, 'We did it ourselves.'... More

Inspirational Leadership: 10 Roles

Inspirational leaders create an inspiring culture within their organization. They supply a shared vision and inspire people to achieve more than they may ever have dreamed possible. They are able to articulate a shared vision in a way that inspires others to act.

Great leaders lead by example. People do what they have to do for a manager. Inspired and energized people do their best for an inspirational leader... More

Articulate Your Vision

Entrepreneurial Leadership

In the new era. of rapid changes and knowledge-based enterprises, managerial work becomes increasingly a leadership task. In the increasingly turbulent and competitive environment firms face today, a new type of "entrepreneurial" leader distinct from other behavioral forms of managerial leadership is required.

Entrepreneurial leadership is the primary force behind successful change. Entrepreneurial leaders discover emerging business opportunities and empower employees to act on the vision. They execute through inspiration and develop implementation capacity networks through a complex web of aligned relationships... More

The Foundation of Leadership: Achieving Extraordinary Results

By: Brian Tracy

The most important quality of leadership, the one quality for which you want to be known, is extraordinary performance, with the goal of achieving extraordinary results. These results then serve as an inspiration to others to perform at equally exceptional levels. People ascribe leadership to those men and women who they feel can most enable them to achieve important goals or objectives... More

Results-based Leadership

9 Signs of a Losing Organization

4. Lack of Leadership Skills: fear of change; leaders lack entrepreneurial spirit; leadership style on the part of management is either too directive or too hands-off; managers do not lead and don't manage change, they just administrate and micromanage; weak leadership development program.... More

• Leaders  create positive change and see change as an opportunity... More

Why Change Fails: 8 Common Errors Leaders Make

Develop a Clear Vision

The one quality that all leaders have in common is that they have a clear and exciting vision for the future. This is something that only the leader can do. Only the leader can think about the future and plan for the future each day... More

Tips for Making the Vision a Reality

A Leader's Mood: The Dimmer Switch of Performance

How do you work on attaining the consistent, emotionally intelligent leadership behaviors that breed success in yourself and others? Here are a few other suggestions to consider that can improve your and your team's performance... More

Effective Leadership as a Source of Competitive Business Advantage

Leadership is imperative for molding a group of people into a team, shaping them into a force that serves as a competitive business advantage.

Leaders know how to make people function in a collaborative fashion, and how to motivate them to excel their performance. Leaders also know how to balance  the individual team member's quest with the goal of producing synergy – an outcome that exceeds the sum of individual inputs. Leaders require that their team members forego the quest for personal best in concert with the team effort.⁹

An important measure of a leader's own success is he success of his or her followers. The strength of a leader is measured by the ability to facilitate the self-leadership of others. The first critical step towards this goal is to master self-leadership. If leaders want to lead somebody, they must first lead themselves.

Super-leaders

Super-leaders help each of their follower to develop into an effective self-leader by providing them with the behavioral and cognitive skills necessary to exercise self-leadership. "Super-leaders establish values, model, encourage, reward, and in many other ways foster self-leadership in individuals, teams, and wider organizational cultures."⁵

25 Lessons from Jack Welch

18 Leadership Lessons from Colin Powell

10. The most important question in performance evaluation becomes not "How well did you perform your job since the last time we met?" but "How much did you change it?"

11. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand. The result? Clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership, and integrity of organization.... More

Becoming a Motivational Leader

To become a motivational leader, you start with motivating yourself. You motivate yourself with a big vision, and as you move progressively toward its realization, you motivate and enthuse others to work with you to fulfill that vision... More