Core ideas and Concepts of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Core ideas and Concepts of Leadership - Essay Example In another sense, leadership might be seen as some kind of exertion of power by the leader over his or her followers. Nozick (2010) defines philosophy as an attempt to define components of society in relation to the framework within which people in a given culture or circumstance act and/behave. Leadership is a human and cultural activity and as such, it contains inherent elements of philosophy. Leadership can be viewed and defined according to several standards and facades. Leadership can be viewed as â€Å"a complex social process, rooted in the values, skills, knowledge and ways of thinking of both leaders and followers† (Gallos, 2008). This definition spells out several variables in the definition of the concept of leadership. Leadership can be defined from the angle of the leader. It can also be defined by the relationship between leader and follower. It can also be viewed from the angle of the social processes and actions that are involved in the entire process of leader ship. More importantly, leadership can be defined from the transactional events that give rise to the concept of leadership. In the definition of leadership, a transactional event is seen as â€Å"any relevant activity in which a group or groups of people need to be directed or influenced in a way to attain a stated objective† (Jansen, 2010 p17). ... This is because in the strict sense, transactional events seem to put leaders in a position whereby they see their followers as a means to an end. Keith Grint identifies that there is no single form of leadership (2002). This confirms the fact that transactional leadership cannot be the only form of leadership. He states that there are four main types of leadership. The broad classifications include, personality, process, authority and situational contexts. Although transactional events are important in these four phenomena, they are not the only forms of leadership that exists. Transactional Events and Leadership In the wider sense, Bass defines transactional leadership as a â€Å"model for the analyses of types of leadership based on theories that focus on the interactions between leaders and followers† (1997). In other words, transactional-event model of examining leadership involves viewing leadership from an angle whereby a formal relationship exists between two parties i n which one is to act as a leader and other is to act as subordinate (Stevenson, 2004). Bass goes on to state that transactional events occur where there is a shared network and within the shared network, one person has the power to exert influence over others (1997). This implies that transactional leadership flourishes in a situation or context where there are authority structures and systems. Transactional-Event, Leadership and Authority Weber identifies three main sources of authority which puts a person in a leadership position in a transactional event (Walonick, 1993). Stated differently, leadership positions in transactional events or transactional leadership