Leadership is the give-and-take, the communication, among leaders and followers. To be a leader, you must have people who are willing to follow. Leaders are individuals within a group who guide and direct the group's activities. Leadership is the process of communication that occurs between leaders and followers. To understand leadership, you need to look at what leaders say and how followers respond as well as what followers say and how leaders respond.
How do positions of group leadership get created? One way is for leaders to be by some external authority to the group. For example, managers are often appointed to be leaders of work teams within an organization. Upper-level managers appoint lower-level managers to guide and direct work teams. Another way that positions of leadership get created in groups is that leaders emerge from the interaction among group members. An individual may emerge as a leader in a group if he or she participates a great deal within the group, demonstrates expertise that other group members do not, and collaborates with other group members. Is one way better than the other? No. Both approaches have strengths and weaknesses. Appointed leaders may be viewed favourably by other group members particularly if the people doing the appointing are well respected. Being appointed by high-status people can give a leader credibility. At the same time, if group members do not perceive the process of appointing leaders as legitimate, the appointed leader may be viewed as incompetent or not deserving the position. Leaders who emerge in the course of the group discussion tend to be viewed as more credible. At the same time, individuals who are unqualified may emerge as leaders. For example, people who participate a great deal in the discussion tend to emerge as leaders. Other group members take this high level of participation as a sign of commitment and concern for the group and allow this person to emerge as the leader. Yet does talking a lot in a group discussion guarantee that a person has the needed knowledge and expertise to guide the group? The answer is a resounding no. Unqualified people sometimes emerge as leaders simply by virtue of their being active in the group discussion.
