Leadership is any process of leaders influencing followers. A leader, sometimes likened to a magnet or a compass, is one to whom others look for guidance. Influence is the ability or capacity to get another person to do or believe X rather than Y. One vital source of influence is the formal authority to command, held, for example, by business executives. An individual not possessing any formal authority may acquire moral influence equivalent to informal authority through persuasion, example, or ideas. Varying sources and means of influence, together with the morality of the ends and means of influence, are key dimensions of leadership. Where control of important resources overlaps with formal or informal authority, it is an aspect of leadership.

This entry first explains the prevailing ...