Revisiting the Meaning of Leadership
Synopsis
The authors of this chapter contend that the study of leadership in organizational theory went awry when interest in leadership became too tightly coupled with organizational performance. Leading organizational theorists in the latter part of the twentieth century, such as Max Weber, Chester Barnard, and Philip Selznick, were not concerned with leadership because of its ability to explain financial performance. Instead, they were concerned with leadership's importance in infusing purpose and meaning into the lives of individuals. Although performance was not judged irrelevant by these earlier theorists, neither was it central. For them the primary significance of leadership rested in its importance in stemming the loss of meaning that they and other scholars of their time ascribed to modernity. The authors of this chapter conclude that if we are to judge the importance of leadership to organizational life, we need to break free from the strict interdependence of leadership success and organizational performance-and take a much broader view. This chapter was originally published as Chapter 3 of "Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice: A Harvard Business School Centennial Colloquium."
- Copyright:
- 2010 HBS Press
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- ISBN-13:
- Publisher:
- Harvard Business Publishing
- Date of Addition:
- 2016-08-03T03:57:41Z
- Language:
- English
- Categories:
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.