1.1 Defining Organizational Leadership
Various definitions of leadershipThe process of exerting intentional influence toward the ideas, beliefs/values, capabilities, and behaviors of others, willingly on their part, toward an organizational goal(s) or vision. can be found in the literature. For example, Gary Yukl, a renowned leadership scholar, defined leadership as “a process whereby intentional influence is exerted over other people to guide, structure, and facilitate activities and relationships in a group or organization.” Our own definition is more specific in terms of what that influence is all about: the process of exerting intentional influence toward the ideas, beliefs/values, capabilities, and behaviors of others, willingly on their part, toward an organizational goal(s) or vision.
Several things should be noted regarding our definition. First, although the term “leadership” has been applied to inanimate organizations (e.g., XYZ firm is a technological leader in the computer industry), we view leadership as something that is shown by individuals, rather than organizations as a whole. In other words, people show leadership, not organizations.
Second, leadership is a process, rather than simply referring to people in formal leadership roles. Common parlance might refer to particular individuals as “leaders” in their respective organizations, simply because of their job titles. However, we argue that just because an individual occupies a formal leadership role (e.g., supervisor or manager), it does not necessarily mean that the person demonstrates effective leadership.
Third, beyond people in formal leadership roles, leadership could involve other individuals, or what might be termed “informal” leaders. You have probably known such people who, although they had no official leadership title, they routinely influenced their coworkers. We will consider informal leadership in some detail in Chapter 8 “Team and Shared Leadership”.
Fourth, organizations have various levels at which leadership might be exhibited. These include individual, group or team, and organization levels. We will focus on particular levels in certain chapters. For example, we target the individual level, or one-on-one leadership in Chapter 3 “Leader-Member Exchange and Relationship-Building”. Team-level leadership is the subject of Chapter 8 “Team and Shared Leadership”. Organizational or strategic leadership is considered in Chapter 12 “Strategic Leadership and Shaping Organizational Culture” and Chapter 13 “Generating Organizational Change through Strategic Leadership”. Although there are commonalities in terms of effective leadership behavior at each of these levels, there are also differences. For example, visionary leadership, a topic that we address in Chapter 11 “Inspirational and Visionary Leadership”, is most relevant at executive or strategic levels. However, it is also relevant when leading individuals and teams.
Fifth, and perhaps most importantly, leadership is an active process, and it is positive in the sense that individuals are willingly influenced, rather than coerced or bullied. Thus, what has been termed laissez-faire is not leadership because it is inactive in the sense of avoiding interactions with followers, not being present when needed, or not making decisions. A good example of laissez-faire can be seen in the inactions of Lieutenant Norman Dyke, Jr. in the HBO series, Band of Brothers. Lieutenant Dyke was frequently missing when the men under his command needed support or direction. Most importantly, he failed to make decisions, which is an important type of leader behavior. In addition, negative actions like coercion, bullying, and abusiveness do not constitute what leadership is all about. For example, actions such as ridiculing followers in front of their peers runs counter to effective leadership.