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This article was done by Tamim Ansary
The question is deceptively simple: What is a leader?
Is it a person who runs things? No, that's a boss.
And although every leader may in some sense be a boss, certainly not every boss is a leader.
The irreducible minimum definition of a leader is someone with followers, but that bare bones formulationprompts the question: Why do some people--and not others--attract followers?</DIV></DIV><DIV class=Section><DIV class=InlineModule_R style="WIDTH: 165px"><DIV class=Module_6><DIV class=Title_6><SCRIPT language=javascript src="http://imgcache.classesusa.com/msn-iframe/article-whatisleader-1.js"></SCRIPT></DIV></DIV></DIV><DIV class=SectionBody>History has seen a parade of theories. For example: <UL><LI>The Great Man Theory: Leadership is a mysterious force that some people are just born with. Sociologist Max Weber called it "charisma."
<LI>The Traits Theory: Certain personality traits predispose a person for leadership. If you have (and develop) enough of them, you'll be a leader. For example, tall, strong, brave, and smart all help. Short, weak, cowardly, and stupid--not so good. In the end it all goes back to genes.
</LI>[/list]</DIV></DIV><DIV class=Section><DIV class=SectionBody><UL><LI>The Behavioral Theory: Leaders are what leaders do. This isn't so much a theory as an approach. It spills over from psychologist B. F. Skinner, who said scientists should forget about inner states and focus on what can be recorded and measured--which, in the human sciences, is behavior. Accordingly, some leadership scholars set out to categorize leaders' behavior patterns, so that people who wanted to be leaders could simply do those same things. But leadership behavior is embedded in countless, unique situations, making useful general principles hard to come by. Still, these studies led to....
<LI>The Situational Theory: Leadership isn't in a person but in a whole situation and how any given person fits into it. A leader in one context can be a loser in another. This theory would say that the French Revolution created Napoleon, and intertribal Mongol wars gave rise to Genghis Khan. If they were transported to a modern American university, they would end up in jail, not in the student senate. In fact, given the right situation, anyone can be a leader. Picture, for example, a group hiking through the woods. If they meet a bear, the short, weak, stupid, coward-guy might well be the first to bolt, followed by the others, making him suddenly--briefly--the leader!</LI>[/list]</DIV></DIV><DIV class=Section><DIV class=InlineModule_L style="WIDTH: 165px"><DIV class=Module_6><DIV class=Title_6><SCRIPT language=javascript src="http://imgcache.classesusa.com/msn-iframe/article-whatisleader-2.js"></SCRIPT></DIV></DIV></DIV><DIV class=SectionBody>
Some theorists inject a moral note into their definition of leadership. Management guru Peter Drucker has said that leaders don't just organize people to get results; they infuse their followers with a noble purpose.
Noble? What about Hitler? Drucker's retort: Hitler was not a leader but a "mis-leader."
Nice save, but I dunno. A model of leadership that can't account for Hitler isn't quite there. Really, I think, to get at the underlying mechanisms of leadership you have to let go of judgment.</DIV></DIV><DIV class=Section><DIV class=SectionBody>
When you do, you can see that Drucker had something. Leadership theorists often discriminate between power, authority, and l
This article was done by Tamim Ansary
The question is deceptively simple: What is a leader?
Is it a person who runs things? No, that's a boss.
And although every leader may in some sense be a boss, certainly not every boss is a leader.
The irreducible minimum definition of a leader is someone with followers, but that bare bones formulationprompts the question: Why do some people--and not others--attract followers?</DIV></DIV><DIV class=Section><DIV class=InlineModule_R style="WIDTH: 165px"><DIV class=Module_6><DIV class=Title_6><SCRIPT language=javascript src="http://imgcache.classesusa.com/msn-iframe/article-whatisleader-1.js"></SCRIPT></DIV></DIV></DIV><DIV class=SectionBody>History has seen a parade of theories. For example: <UL><LI>The Great Man Theory: Leadership is a mysterious force that some people are just born with. Sociologist Max Weber called it "charisma."
<LI>The Traits Theory: Certain personality traits predispose a person for leadership. If you have (and develop) enough of them, you'll be a leader. For example, tall, strong, brave, and smart all help. Short, weak, cowardly, and stupid--not so good. In the end it all goes back to genes.
</LI>[/list]</DIV></DIV><DIV class=Section><DIV class=SectionBody><UL><LI>The Behavioral Theory: Leaders are what leaders do. This isn't so much a theory as an approach. It spills over from psychologist B. F. Skinner, who said scientists should forget about inner states and focus on what can be recorded and measured--which, in the human sciences, is behavior. Accordingly, some leadership scholars set out to categorize leaders' behavior patterns, so that people who wanted to be leaders could simply do those same things. But leadership behavior is embedded in countless, unique situations, making useful general principles hard to come by. Still, these studies led to....
<LI>The Situational Theory: Leadership isn't in a person but in a whole situation and how any given person fits into it. A leader in one context can be a loser in another. This theory would say that the French Revolution created Napoleon, and intertribal Mongol wars gave rise to Genghis Khan. If they were transported to a modern American university, they would end up in jail, not in the student senate. In fact, given the right situation, anyone can be a leader. Picture, for example, a group hiking through the woods. If they meet a bear, the short, weak, stupid, coward-guy might well be the first to bolt, followed by the others, making him suddenly--briefly--the leader!</LI>[/list]</DIV></DIV><DIV class=Section><DIV class=InlineModule_L style="WIDTH: 165px"><DIV class=Module_6><DIV class=Title_6><SCRIPT language=javascript src="http://imgcache.classesusa.com/msn-iframe/article-whatisleader-2.js"></SCRIPT></DIV></DIV></DIV><DIV class=SectionBody>
Some theorists inject a moral note into their definition of leadership. Management guru Peter Drucker has said that leaders don't just organize people to get results; they infuse their followers with a noble purpose.
Noble? What about Hitler? Drucker's retort: Hitler was not a leader but a "mis-leader."
Nice save, but I dunno. A model of leadership that can't account for Hitler isn't quite there. Really, I think, to get at the underlying mechanisms of leadership you have to let go of judgment.</DIV></DIV><DIV class=Section><DIV class=SectionBody>
When you do, you can see that Drucker had something. Leadership theorists often discriminate between power, authority, and l
<DIV class=cap>Ms Nooyi takes up the top job at Pepsico in October</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Indian-born Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's chief executive-designate, is the world's fourth most powerful woman, according to Forbes magazine. 
I wouldn't want to upset you on your return (bad house manners) but
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