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CHAPTER 1
What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
Chapter Outline
The Need for Leadership
The New Reality for Leaders
How Leadership Differs from Management
Evolving Theories of Leadership
Leadership Can Be Learned
Mastering the Art and Science of Leadership
Organization of This Book
In the Lead
Summary and Interpretation
This chapter introduces the concept of leadership and explains how individuals can grow as
leaders. Leadership is defined as an influence relationship among leaders and followers who
intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes. Thus leadership involves
people in a relationship, influence, change, a shared purpose, and taking personal responsibility
to make things happen. Most of us are aware of famous leaders, but most leadership that changes
the world starts small and may begin with personal frustrations about events that prompt people
to initiate change and inspire others to follow them. Your leadership may be expressed in the
classroom, at work, or in your neighborhood, religious community, or volunteer organizations.
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The “soft” skills of leadership complement the “hard” skills of management, and both are needed
to effectively guide organizations. Although leadership is often equated with good management,
leadership and management are different processes. Management strives to maintain stability and
improve efficiency. Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating a vision for the future,
designing social architecture that shapes culture and values, inspiring and motivating followers,
Your Leadership Challenge
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
• Understand the full meaning of leadership and see the leadership potential in yourself and
others.
• Recognize and facilitate the six fundamental transformations in today’s organizations and
leaders.
• Identify the primary reasons for leadership derailment and the new paradigm skills that can
help you avoid it.
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leadership today.
Key Terms and Concepts
Leadership: an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and
outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.
Paradigm: a shared mind-set that represents a fundamental way of thinking about, perceiving,
and understanding the world.
Management: the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner
through planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational resources.
Introduction
As a young politician, Abraham Lincoln once provoked an opponent to tears by using his expert
communication skills to mimic and ridicule his rival. Soon afterward, the man who would later
become the 16th president of the United States felt disappointed and ashamed of his own
behavior and sought out his opponent to offer an apology. Lincoln took this as a valuable lesson
about channeling his emotions, practicing empathy, and using his abilities to promote good.
From then on, Lincoln applied his superb leadership and communication skills to serve the
higher interests of the American people rather than his own goals and ego.
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Annotated lecture/outline
Leadership Challenge #1: Understand the full meaning of leadership and see the leadership
potential in yourself and others.
I. The Need for Leadership
Scholars and other writers have offered hundreds of definitions of the term leadership,
prompting James McGregor Burns to conclude that leadership “is one of the most observed and
least understood phenomena on earth.” Defining leadership has been a complex and elusive
problem because the nature of leadership itself is complex. Some have even suggested that
leadership is nothing more than a romantic myth, perhaps based on the false hope that someone
A. Leadership Defined
Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes
and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.
Exhibit 1.1: What Leadership Involves
Leadership involves influence; it occurs among people; those people intentionally desire
significant changes; and the changes reflect purposes shared by leaders and followers.
Influence means that the relationship among people is not passive; however, also inherent in
this definition is the concept that influence is multidirectional and noncoercive. Leadership is
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reciprocal. In most organizations, superiors influence subordinates, but subordinates also
influence superiors. The people involved in the relationship want substantive changes—
leadership involves creating change, not maintaining the status quo. In addition, the changes
sought are not dictated by leaders but reflect purposes leaders and followers share. An
important aspect of leadership is influencing others to come together around a common
vision.
Leadership is a people activity and is distinct from administrative paperwork or planning
activities. Leadership occurs among people; it is not something done to people. Since
leadership involves people, there must be followers. Good leaders know how to follow and set
B. Everyday Leadership
When we stop equating leadership with greatness and public visibility, it becomes easier to
see our own opportunities for leadership and recognize the leadership of people we interact
with every day. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and many true leaders are working
behind the scenes.
• Clinical psychologist Barbara Van Dahlen was working primarily with children in the
Washington, D.C., area when she became concerned about the effects of the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan on the mental health of U.S. soldiers, veterans, and their families.
Van Dahlen founded Give an Hour in 2005 to provide free services that give help and
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New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can recognize opportunities for leadership and act
to influence others and bring about changes for a better future.
There are opportunities for leadership all around us that involve influence and change toward
a desired goal or outcome. The leaders of tomorrow’s organizations will come from anywhere
Discussion Question #3: Of the elements in the leadership definition in Exhibit 1.1, which is the
easiest for you? Which is hardest? Explain.
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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Leadership Challenge #2: Recognize and facilitate the six fundamental transformations in
today’s organizations and leaders.
II. The New Reality for Leaders
Massive changes in the world mean today’s leaders are facing challenges they couldn’t even
imagine just a few years ago. Social connectedness and mobility are becoming central aspects of
every leader’s job.
Exhibit 1.2: The New Reality for Leaders
Some historians and other scholars believe our world is undergoing a transformation more
profound and far-reaching than any experienced since the dawn of the modern age and the
Industrial Revolution more than 500 years ago. This transformation requires a transition from a
A. From Stabilizer to Change Manager
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Today’s world is in constant motion and nothing seems certain anymore. If leaders still had an
illusion of stability at the dawn of the twenty-first century, it is surely shattered by now.
Consider the following events:
• A powerful earthquake in Japan in 2011 triggered massive tsunami waves that damaged
the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and led to the shutdown of
numerous companies, creating supply chain disruptions for manufacturers around the
world.
Discussion Question #2: What do you consider your own strengths and weaknesses for
leadership? Discuss your answer with another student.
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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B. From Controller to Facilitator
Leaders in powerful positions once believed strict control was needed for the organization to
function efficiently and effectively. Rigid organizational hierarchies, structured jobs and work
processes, and detailed, inviolate procedures let everyone know that those at the top had
power and those at the bottom had none.
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In the Lead: Vineet Nayar, HCL Technologies
HCL Technologies is a leading global IT services and software development company and
India’s fourth largest IT services exporter. When Vineet Nayar became CEO in 2005, HCL was
losing ground—and some of its best employees—to competitors. Nayar recalls that HCL “was in
a tough spot and we had to do something fast or we were in danger of being out of the race
altogether.”
What Nayar did was revolutionary: He organized the company on the principle of “employees
first, customers second” (EFCS). He had to start by building trust. He decided to share financial
information with everyone in the company. Then, he took a bold step by creating an open online
forum where employees could post questions and leaders would answer. This could expose
Discussion Question #5: Describe the best leader you have known. How did this leader acquire
his or her capability?
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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C. From Competitor to Collaborator
In a hyperconnected, networked age, collaboration becomes more important than competition.
Successful leaders harness and make the most of ideas, talent, and resources from across
boundaries of all kinds. Although some companies still encourage internal competition and
aggressiveness, most successful leaders stress teamwork, compromise, and cooperation. Self-
directed teams and other forms of horizontal collaboration spread knowledge and information
throughout the organization.
New Leader Action Memo: Go to Leader’s Self-Insight 1.1 to learn about your own
“intelligence” for dealing with collaboration and with the other new realities facing
organizations.
Discussion Question #4: How might the paradigm shift from competition to collaboration make
the job of a leader more difficult? Could it also make the leader’s job easier? Discuss.
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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D. From Diversity Avoider to Diversity Promoter
Many of today’s organizations were built on assumptions of uniformity, separation, and
specialization. People who think alike, act alike, and have similar jobs skills are grouped into
a department, such as accounting or manufacturing, separate from other departments.
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E. From Hero to Humble
Another shift is the move from celebrating the “leader-as-hero” to recognizing the hard-
working behind-the-scenes leader who quietly builds a strong enduring company by
supporting and developing others rather than touting his or her own abilities and successes.
One reason for the shift from hero to humble is that it is less and less realistic for an
Consider This: Should Leaders Live by the Cowboy Code?
• A cowboy never takes unfair advantage—even of an enemy.
• A cowboy never goes back on his word or betrays a trust.
• A cowboy always tells the truth.
• A cowboy is kind and gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
These leaders are characterized by an almost complete lack of ego, coupled with a fierce
resolve to do what is best for the organization. They accept full responsibility for mistakes,
poor results, or failures, but they typically give credit for successes to other people.
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can respond to the reality of change and crisis, the
need for empowerment, collaboration, and diversity, and the importance of a higher, ethical
Discussion Question #1: Look through recent magazines and newspapers and identify one
leader who seems to illustrate the “leader-as-hero” mindset and one who seems more typical of
the humble Level 5 leader described in the text. Describe their differing characteristics. Which
was easier to find?
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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Discussion Question #7: Discuss some recent events and societal changes that might have
contributed to a shift “from hero to humble.” Do you agree or disagree that humility is
important for good leadership?
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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Leadership Challenge #4: Recognize the traditional functions of management and the
fundamental differences between leadership and management.
III. How Leadership Differs from Management
Management can be defined as the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and
efficient manner through planning organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational
resources. Managers and leaders are not inherently different types of people. Managers and
New Leader Action Memo: You can evaluate your own leadership potential by completing the
quiz in Leader’s Self-Insight 1.2.
Exhibit 1.3: Comparing Management and Leadership
Exhibit 1.3 compares management to leadership in five areas crucial to organizational
performance—providing direction, aligning followers, building relationships, developing
personal qualities, and creating leader outcomes.
Leadership Challenge #5: Appreciate the crucial importance of providing direction, alignment,
relationships, personal qualities, and outcomes.
A. Providing Direction
Both leadership and management are concerned with providing direction for the organization,
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but there are differences. Management focuses on establishing detailed plans and schedules
for achieving results, then allocating resources to accomplish the plan. Leadership calls for
B. Aligning Followers
Management entails organizing a structure to accomplish the plan; staffing the structure with
employees; and developing policies, procedures, and systems to direct employees and monitor
C. Building Relationships
In terms of relationships, management focuses on getting the most results out of people so
that production goals are achieved and goods and services are provided to customers in a
timely manner. Leadership, on the other hand, focuses on investing more in people so they are
energized and inspired to accomplish goals.
D. Developing Personal Leadership Qualities
Leadership is more than a set of skills; it relies on a number of subtle personal qualities that
are hard to see but that are very powerful. These include things like enthusiasm, integrity,
courage, and humility. Good leadership springs from genuine caring for the work and genuine
concern for other people. The process of management generally encourages emotional
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New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can awaken your leadership qualities of
enthusiasm, integrity, courage, and moral commitment. You can make emotional connections
with followers to increase your leadership effectiveness.
True leaders tend to have open minds that welcome new ideas rather than closed minds that
criticize new ideas. Leaders listen and discern what people want and need. Leaders are willing
to be nonconformists, to disagree and say no when it serves the larger good.
E. Creating Outcomes
The differences between management and leadership create two different outcomes:
• Management maintains stability, predictability, and order through a culture of
efficiency.
• Leadership, on the other hand, creates change, often radical change, within a culture of
agility and integrity that helps the organization thrive over the long haul by promoting
Discussion Question #6: Why do you think there are so few people who succeed at both
management and leadership? Is it reasonable to believe someone can be good at both? Discuss.
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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Leadership Challenge #6: Explain how leadership has evolved and how historical approaches
apply to the practice of leadership today.
IV. Evolving Theories of Leadership
To understand leadership as it is viewed and practiced today, it is important to recognize that the
A. Historical Overview of Major Approaches
The various leadership theories can be categorized into six basic approaches. Many of these
ideas are still applicable to leadership studies today.
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Great Man Theories
The earliest studies of leadership adopted the belief that leaders were born with certain
heroic leadership traits and natural abilities of power and influence. In organizations, social
Trait Theories
Beginning in the 1920s, researchers looked to see if leaders had particular traits or
characteristics, such as intelligence height, or energy, that distinguished them from non-
Behavior Theories
The failure to identify a universal set of leadership traits led researchers in the early 1950s,
to begin looking at what a leader does rather than who he or she is. One line of research
Contingency Theories
Researchers next began to consider the contextual and situational variables that influence
what leadership behaviors will be effective. Contingency theories, sometimes called
Influence Theories
These theories examine influence between leaders and followers. One primary topic of
study is charismatic leadership, which refers to leadership influence based not on position
Relational Theories
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Since the late 1970s, many ideas of leadership have focused on the relational aspect, that
is, how leaders and followers interact and influence one another. Rather than being seen as
something a leader does to a follower, leadership is viewed as a relational process that
B. A Model of Leadership Evolution
Exhibit 1.4: Leadership Evolution
Exhibit 1.4 provides a framework for examining the evolution of leadership from the early
Great Man theories to today’s relational theories.
Leadership Era 1
This era may be conceptualized as pre-industrial and pre-bureaucratic. Most organizations
were small and were run by a single individual who many times hired workers because
they were friends or relatives, not necessarily because of their skills or qualifications. This
is the era of Great Man leadership and the emphasis on personal traits of leaders.
Leadership Era 2
In Era 2, we see the emergence of hierarchy and bureaucracy. Although the world remains
Leadership Era 3
This is the era of the team leader and the change leader. This era sees the emergence of
knowledge work, an emphasis on horizontal collaboration, and a shift to influence theories.
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Rather than conceiving of leadership as one person always being firmly “in charge,”
leadership is often shared among team leaders and members, shifting to the person with the
most knowledge or expertise in the matter at hand.
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can use the leadership skills that fit the correct era
for your organization. You can use influence and relational aspects as appropriate for your
organization.
Leadership Era 4
Enter the digital, mobile, social-media age. It seems that everything is changing, and
changing fast. Era 4 is the era of the agile leader who has made the leap to giving up
control in the traditional sense. Leaders emphasize relationships and networks, and they
Implications
The flow from Great Man leadership to rational management to team leadership to learning
leadership illustrates trends in the larger world. The implication is that leadership reflects
Discussion Question #8: “Leadership is more concerned with people than is management.” Do
you agree? Discuss.
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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Leadership Challenge #3: Identify the primary reasons for leadership derailment and the new
paradigm skills that can help you avoid it.
V. Leadership Can Be Learned
Many leaders are caught in the transition between the practices and principles that defined the
industrial era and the new reality of the twenty-first century. Attempts to achieve collaboration,
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New Leader Action Memo: Leader’s Self-Insight 1.3 gives you a chance to test your own
people skills and see if there are areas you need to work on.
A. Leader Fatal Flaws
One of the most important aspects of shifting to the new paradigm of leadership is
intentionally using soft, interpersonal skills to build a culture of performance, trust, and
collaboration. A few clues about the importance of acquiring new leadership skills are
brought to light by studies that look at what causes managers to “derail” in their careers.
Exhibit 1.5: Five Fatal Flaws That Causes Derailment
Researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, have been
looking at what causes manager derailment for two decades. They conclude that there are five
top flaws that cause managers to derail, as shown in Exhibit 1.5. Unsuccessful managers fail
B. Leader Good Behaviors
The best leaders, at all levels, are those who are genuinely interested in other people and find
ways to bring out the best in them. Successful organizations pay attention to developing
leaders in the soft skills needed to effectively lead technical people in a changing
environment.
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In the Lead: Google
In 2013, Google was named the best company to work for by Fortune magazine for the fourth
year in a row. Being a great place to work didn’t happen by accident. Google’s human resources
department, called People Operations—or POPS for short—monitors employees’ happiness and
well-being to an incredible degree, using data to track everything and learn where improvements
are needed.
One thing it discovered is that good leaders make a tremendous difference. Google looked at
what successful leaders—those who have lower attrition rates and get better performance from
Google’s Eight Rules for Good Leader Behavior
• Be a good coach.
• Empower your team and don’t micromanage.
• Express interest in team members’ success and personal well-being.
• Don’t be a sissy. Be productive and results-oriented.
Today’s successful leaders intentionally value change over stability, empowerment over control,
collaboration over competition, diversity over uniformity, and integrity over self-interest. The
Discussion Question #9: What personal capacities should a person develop to be a good leader
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versus those developed to be a good manager?
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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VI. Mastering the Art and Science of Leadership
Leadership can be learned, but it is important to remember that leadership is both an art and a
science. It is an art because many leadership skills and qualities cannot be learned from a
textbook. Leadership takes practice and hands-on experience, as well as intense personal
Exhibit 1.6:
Studying leadership gives us skills that we can apply to the practice of leadership in our
everyday life. Exhibit 1.6 gives some tips for how one can begin honing one’s leadership skills.
Discussion Question #10: Why is leadership considered both an art and a science?
Notes_________________________________________________________________________
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VII. Organization of This Book
Exhibit 1.7: Framework for the Book
Part 1 introduces leadership, its importance, and the transition to a new leadership paradigm. Part
2 explores basic research perspectives that evolved during a more stable time when rational
management approaches were effective. These basic perspectives, including the Great Man and
trait theories, behavior theories, and contingency theories, are relevant to dealing with specific
tasks and individuals and are based on a premise that leaders can predict and control various
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aspects of the environment to keep the organization running smoothly.
Discussion Questions
1. Look through recent magazines and newspapers and identify one leader who seems to
illustrate the “leader-as-hero” mindset and one who seems more typical of the humble
Level 5 leader described in the text. Describe their differing characteristics. Which was
easier to find?
Students’ answers will vary. An example of a “leader-as-hero” mindset is Jeff Bezos, the e-
commerce pioneer who started Amazon.com to sell books, and expanded into just about
everything else. Bezos is one of the founding fathers of e-commerce, and part of a select
group of entrepreneurs in that field who managed to survive the dot-com bubble without
