1 What is leadership?

There are many ways of understanding leadership and what it means to be a leader – as already noted, there are literally thousands of books on the subject! Perhaps not surprisingly, therefore, there are numerous definitions of leadership, many of which contrast the related ideas of leadership and management. Some of these are outlined below.

• Management focuses on speed and methods – doing things right. Leadership focuses on direction and purpose – doing the right things. (Covey, 1989)
• Management is about coping with complexity. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change. (Kotter, 1990)
• Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. (Northouse, 2010)
• A leader shapes and shares a vision which gives point to the work of others. (Handy, 1992)

There are a number of themes of leadership running through these definitions, including:

• having a vision, direction and purpose
• developing and establishing a common goal
• working with change
• influencing others
• giving meaning to others.

On reading these definitions, you might have noticed something very important: none make any mention of rank, title, position or authority.

Leadership, and consequently being a leader, is something that exists separate to formal organisational structures and is about the behaviours you demonstrate. In practice, this means that leaders and those demonstrating leadership behaviours can be found at all levels of an organisation, irrespective of rank or title.