leadership

n. Definitions of leadership have changed over the decades. In the 1930s to 1950s, researchers defined leadership in terms of the leader's qualities and traits. According to Bogardus, these trait conceptions considered leadership as "personality in action." Further, Weber suggested that the leader's heroic and inspirational personality was one source of legitimacy. Stogdill reconceptualized leadership, not as a property of an individual, but as a relationship between people in a social situation. Consistently with this situational approach, Pfeffer suggested that leaders emerge as a consequence of timing and circumstance regardless of their individual characteristics. Additionally, Pfeffer redefined the leader's role by suggesting that leaders do not directly affect material outcomes; instead, they manage symbols by constructing and maintaining attitudes, beliefs, and emotions. Contemporary definitions of leadership adopt an interactional approach that captures the characteristics of both the leader and the situation, thus suggesting that the specific qualities, characteristics, and skills vital for successful leadership are largely determined by the demands of the social situation.

- JS, TM