leadership

Definitions of Leadership

1. (noun) The capacity or power to convince others to act.
2. (noun) The individual or group that is designated to lead.
3. (noun) The period of time an individual or group leads.

Examples of Leadership

• Definition 1:
  • A charismatic leader charms followers into action.
• Definition 2:
  • Captains on a football team.
  • Administrators in a bureaucracy.
• Definition 3:
  • The reign of a chief or king.

Types of Leadership

• authoritarian leadership
• democratic leadership
• expressive leadership
• instrumental leadership
• laissez-faire leadership

Leadership Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: lead·er·ship

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈlidərˌʃɪp/
• British English – /ˈliːdəʃɪp/

Usage Notes

• Plural: leaderships
• A (noun) leader (verb) leads through leadership.

Related Video

Additional Information

• Word origin of “leadership” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Coughlin, Linda, Ellen Wingard, and Keith Hollihan. 2005. Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Galbraith, John Kenneth, Dick Gilling, and Adrian Malone. 1990. The Age of Uncertainty. DVD. Sydney, NSW: BBC Education and Training.
• Gill, Roger. 2011. Theory and Practice of Leadership. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
• Pitcher, Patricia. 1997. The Drama of Leadership. New York: Wiley.
• Rosenbach, William E., Robert L. Taylor, and Mark A. Youndt. 2015. Contemporary Issues in Leadership. 7th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview.

Related Terms

• coercion
• go-between
• legitimacy
• infralegal-dispute
• norm
• policy
• political system
• support

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Works Consulted

Branscombe, Nyla R., and Robert A. Baron. 2017. Social Psychology. 14th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

O’Leary, Zina. 2007. The Social Science Jargon Buster: The Key Terms You Need to Know. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Leadership

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “leadership.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved October 3, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/leadership/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

leadership. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/leadership/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “leadership.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed October 3, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/leadership/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“leadership.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 3 Oct. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/leadership/>.