Leader

A gaggle of geese following leader (parent, here)

A leader is somebody whom people follow. A leader has authority. For people to accept a leader, his or her leadership must therefore be legitimate.

Because people follow a leader, the leader can make people do things. A leader can therefore make people work together towards a common goal.

An example of a leader is the head of government of a country. People within the government follow the leader, and citizens look to the head of government for inspiration and guidance. Sometimes, when a head of government lacks legitimacy, people will stop following him or her. The head of government is therefore no longer able to lead properly. This may result in a new election, or in worst case civil war.

A group with no leader is called leaderless.

Leader Media

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  An APEC leader setting the tone for the 2013 APEC CEO summit with an opening speech

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  The Prince, written by Niccolò Machiavelli (pictured), argued that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved, if one cannot be both.

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  A graphical representation of the managerial grid model

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  General Petraeus talks with U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

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  Julius Caesar, one of the world's greatest military leaders

Other websites

• 'The Vision Thing': How Effective Leaders Cultivate and Co-ordinate Social Identity in Order to Promote Followership Archived 2008-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Leadership Qualities