Leadership Definitions Analysis

According to Bass & Riggio (2006), leadership is universal, and the study of leadership is an ancient art. Leadership has been defined differently at different times. The definitions are based on theories that try to create a better understanding of leadership. The timeline below helps to better understand the definitions at different times. 1930’s – 1940’s: During this period, the leadership definition was based on the work of Gordon Allport, an American psychologist. Transactional leadership refers to the ability to supervise and organize the performance of followers through punishment and rewards. Transformational leadership is defined as the ability of one to interact with others in a way that leads to the creation of solid relationships between the leader and followers (Vito, Higgins, & Denney, 2014). Part III A review of the biographical leadership and leadership definitions of different times indicates a close relationship between the personal leadership and the definitions by different scholars.

The biographical leadership highlights common traits that indicate the ability to lead. For instance, self-confidence, ability to adapt to situations, the desire to influence followers and persistence are some of the important features identified in biographical leadership. Leadership involves assessing the performance of followers by enforcing rules. Consequently, the leader is involved in rewarding the successful followers while punishing failure among the followers. Burns describes transformational leadership as the process through which leaders and followers uplift one another to the next higher level through motivation (Burns, 2012). About this, the biographical leadership is also characterized by engaging the followers through ways that create motivation. Some of the common ways include encouraging followers to establish personal goals that align with the general organizational goals.