Leadership Toolkit

Definitions

Just as there are numerous theories and concepts of leadership (e.g., those based in the traits, styles, behaviours, and influence of leaders; and the purposes, functions, processes and outcomes of leadership), there are multitudes of definitions of leadership as well as quotes and slogans about it.  We could not find any definitions that could stand by themselves in all contexts, but here is a sample of quotes drawn from politics, business and the military.

“A leader is a dealer in hope.”

(Napoleon Buonaparte)

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others."

(Bill Gates)

“Leadership: The capacity and will to rally people to a common purpose together with the character that inspires confidence and trust.”

(Field Marshall Montgomery)

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”

(Warren G. Bennis)

“Leadership is the art of influencing others to their maximum performance to accomplish any task, objective or project.”

(W.A.Cohen)

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”

(Stephen R. Covey)

Source: Leadership Definitions.
University of Exeter, Centre for Leadership Studies.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 30 October, 2006:
http://www.leadership-studies.com/lsw/definitions.htm

“Good leaders make people feel that they're at the heart of things, not at the periphery.  Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization.  When that happens, people feel centred, and that gives their work meaning.” (Warren Bennis)        

Source: Bennis, W.
Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 30 October, 2006:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bennis

“The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.”

(Tony Blair)

“The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I'. And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say 'I'. They don't think 'I'. They think 'we'; they think 'team.' They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but 'we' gets the credit.... This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.”

(Peter Drucker)

“The price of greatness is responsibility.”

(Winston Churchill)

“There's nothing more demoralizing than a leader who can't clearly articulate why we're doing what we're doing.”

(James Kouzes and Barry Posner)

Source: Leadership Quotes.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 30 October, 2006:
http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_leadership.html

“I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.”  (Bishop Desmond Tutu)

Source: Big Dog's Leadership Quotes.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 30 October, 2006:
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadqot.html

“Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.”

Source: Daft, R.L.  (2005). (3rd ed.)  The Leadership Experience.  Mason, Ohio: Thomson South-Western, p. 5.

The problem of defining leadership

While quotations, sayings and slogans about leadership are plentiful, it is difficult to arrive at one all-encompassing definition of leadership that will apply in all contexts and situations. This isn't surprising, given that the study of leadership has rich practical, as well as theoretical traditions.

Why not:

Ask your students to: “Develop [their] own definition of leadership in fifteen words or less.  Describe a context or setting in which this definition of leadership would be appropriate and explain how this definition would be applied in it.  Could this definition work in any context or setting?  Why or why not?  Now describe a context in which the definition would not be suitable.”

Source: Chapter Two -The changing nature of leadership, in:
Lucas, N., Komives, S.R., McMahon, T. R. (1998).  Instructor's Guide to Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference.  San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 30 October, 2006:
http://www.academy.umd.edu/publications/leadership_education/exploring_curriculum.htm#The%20Leadership%20Class

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