Leadership

We are consumed with interest in leaders. We animatedly gossip about “the boss”; airport bookshops bulge with leadership books; current affairs dissect the actions of leaders; and much of the organizational and management sciences is a study of leadership and the role of the CEO (chief executive officer). This is not surprising. Our leaders have enormous influence over usthey make decisions for us and shape the course of our lives and even the type of people we are, and so we focus on how effective they are; how we elect, appoint, and depose them; and whether they lead for good or for evil. This entry defines leadership, and then describes the major organizational and social psychological theories of leadership.