Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Discussion Questions
Chapter 1: Understanding Leadership
1. How do you define leadership?
2. Which conceptualization of leadership most appeals to you? Which one least appeals to
you? Why? Give examples.
3. What do you see as limiting in the other views of leadership?
6. In what ways might North American perspectives of leadership differ from those of other
cultures?
7. How surprising is it to you that there are universal leadership attributes?
8. In what situations do you feel most prepared to lead? Least prepared? Which of the
9. What lessons might you learn about leadership if you were mentored by Indra Nooyi, the
subject of this chapter’s “Leadership Snapshot?”
10. Using the definition of leadership in the text, would you consider celebrities to be
leaders? Explain.
11. Are people “called” to be leaders? If so, how?
12. What is the value of empirical research in understanding the leadership process?
13. How does leadership become toxic?
14. How can people guard against becoming susceptible to destructive leadership?
15. How can leaders know whether their goals are selfish or for the common good?