"A leader is best when people barely know that he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worst when they despise him. But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say, 'We did this ourselves.'" Lao Tzu, Chinese founder of Taoism, author (6th Century BC)
Leadership is the ability to:
-create a vision
-present that vision so that others are inspired and motivated to achieve it
-drive the vision forward so that no matter what happens, the vision becomes reality
Leadership requires many skills including the ability to learn from the past and anticipate the future, communicate effectively, create good relationship, organize resource constantly hold the vision for success and act courageously and ethically at all the times.
Defining Leadership
Leadership means different things to different people. 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