What Is Leadership

What is Leadership?

“Leadership is the use of one’s imagination to conceive different concepts”

Dr. Cornel West

What an awesome question to ask. Leadership is one of the most important and critical topics for any organization. Leadership Leadership is difficult to define but has been defined through various perspectives. There have been many articles and books written to define leadership. Leadership mirrors the many perspectives. According to Ivanceich, Konopaske, & Matteson (2013), “Leadership is the process of influencing others to facilitate the attainment of organizationally relevant goals” (p. 435). Leadership is more complex than just a position. Leadership is leading in the right direction with the right guide. Leadership involves attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, feelings of other people and giving people a sense of purpose. Leadership is about movement. Leadership moves and defines an organization. Leadership moves an organization from its present position to a place in the future, to a desired state. Leadership is what makes an organization successful. It matters who is at the reign of an organization.

Leadership is influencing the organization to move in a certain direction to accomplish a common goal. Leadership is about shining in hard times and having the full collaborative attention of the employees. Hill & Lineback (2011) declare that when exploring the facets of leadership, one must ask several questions; “As a leader and manager, someone who is responsible for the results obtained by others, are you the boss you need to be? Are you getting the best from your people, and from those you need but don’t control? Are you fully satisfying the ever-rising expectations of your firm and its customers?”

When considering these questions, you understand that leadership is an ongoing-moving process. The process consists of (but not limited to) learning, team building, enhancing, developing, and growing. There are many components and concepts of leadership. The components and concepts of leadership are orchestrated throughout an organization. Leadership is the backbone of any organization. In the end, leadership is creating a shared purpose, continuous changes, solving problems, making decisions, and involving all the employees within the organization. In this paper; I will focus on three of the concepts of leadership:

• Leadership is about leading change.

• Leadership is a shared purpose.

• Leadership is a team effort.

Leadership is About Leading Change

Change is the constant variable in any organization. Change is the force that creates new strategies and put them into action. Change is a daunting challenge for any organization