Leadership

A leader can define or clarify goals by issuing a memo or an executive order, an edict or a fatwa or a tweet, by passing a law, barking a command, or presenting an interesting idea in a meeting of colleagues. Leaders can mobilize people's energies in ways that range from subtle, quiet persuasion to coercive threat or the use of deadly force. Sometimes, a charismatic leader such as Martin Luther King Jr can define goals and mobilize energies through rhetoric and the power of example. We can think of leadership as a spectrum, in terms of both visibility and the power the leader wields. On one end of the spectrum, we have the most visible: authoritative leaders like the President of the United States or the prime minister of the United Kingdom, or a dictator such as Hitler or Qaddafi. At the opposite end of the spectrum is casual, low-key leadership found in countless situations every day around the world, leadership that can make a significant difference to the individuals whose lives are touched by it. Over the centuries, the first kind-the out-in-front, authoritative leadership - has generally been exhibited by men.