Leadership Effectiveness

Definition

People define the concept of leadership effectiveness in many ways. Indeed, Stogdill (1974), Bass (1981), and Bass and Stogdill (1990) catalogued and interpreted almost five thousand studies of the concept and found great variance in its definition. Burns (1978) captured the problem most vividly in a statement still widely quoted today: “Leadership,” he said “is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth” (Burns 1978, 2). People seem to accept a default position that leadership is simply what leaders do and that leaders are simply people in positions of power over others. An alternative to this position will be offered later. Still, we must have a starting point for our understanding of leadership effectiveness—even if it means that almost immediately we will create controversy.

One inclusive definition of leadership effectiveness is “the successful exercise of personal influence by one or more people that results in accomplishing shared objectives in a way that is personally satisfying [Page 845]to those involved.” This definition arouses controversy when examined from perspectives based on behavior in different contexts. Although this definition most comfortably applies to the interpersonal, small-group, and network levels found within typical work environments, in almost all political arenas and in some huge organizations, leadership effectiveness will be defined differently.

For organizations in which members or employees are significantly affected by decisions and actions that take place at a distance with only representative participation at best, leadership effectiveness is the successful exercise of personal influence attempts by one or more people that results in accomplishing organizational objectives congruent with a mission while earning the general approval of their constituencies (in the case of political leadership) or stakeholders (in the case of business and civil society organizations). Stakeholders are people who have an interest in an outcome.

In both cases, the definition's several conceptual components require further explanation because each has inspired a literature of its own to help clarify its meaning and to help us understand how to use it appropriately.

“Successful Exercise of Personal Influence by One or More People”

A limited view of leadership sees it as a set of behaviors and functions specifically tied to one role or formal position. Holding this view, one would expect that only the CEO could be the leader. A somewhat wider view would recognize that leadership of a division, a committee, a department, or an office is equally important for the accomplishment of organizational goals because each person's work contributes to achieving the overall purpose of the organization. The broadest view of leadership recognizes that everyone who exercises his or her personal influence, whether selecting office supplies, choosing a site for the company picnic, or deciding the location of a new plant, could be engaging in leadership.

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