[Note: This post was updated July 2022 for freshness & clarity.]
I believe leadership is important because, if we examine history, no significant changes or advancement have occurred without some type of leadership. In the United States, we can see how leaders have mobilized followers to accomplish amazing things.
Here are a few examples:
George Washington → American Revolution
Martin Luther King, Jr. → Civil Rights Movement
Steve Jobs → Apple Computers (iPhone, iPad, iPod)
I like this definition of leadership because I believe it nicely explains WHY leadership is important:
“Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (Northouse, 2013, p. 5).
To me, there can be no leader if there are no followers, and people will not follow you if you lack the ability to influence them to work toward a goal.
That said, I also like and agree with what Bass (1990) said, that there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are individuals who have tried to define this concept.
Some would argue that people do not want to be led by others, and instead be leaders (i.e., they want to be leaders, not followers).
I respectfully disagree with the notion that people do not want to be followers. In fact, I contend there are three things that make being a "follower" a very attractive option (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2012):
Almost everyone is a follower in some capacity (supervisors report to managers, managers report to VPs, even CEOs have to report to the board of directors),
The role of followers is just as important as leaders (although it is often overlooked), and
Being a follower has benefits (that is, the benefits to being a follower sometimes outweigh the benefits of trying to be the leader).
The U.S. Civil Rights movement, the military, and sports can offer great examples of when being a follower has helped a social cause, win battles, and propel a sports team to victory.
Social Change: In the U.S., the Civil Rights movement serves as a good example of what can happen when followers take action to change the status quo (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2012).
Military: We talk about great military leaders but the real wars and battles are fought by the best soldiers and armies (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2012).
Sports: Yes, the Chicago Bulls had a great coach (leader) in Phil Jackson (who led them to 6 titles), but they also had Michael Jordan (who was both follower and leader) and Jordan had great teammates (Scottie Pippen, etc.) who followed and helped him.
Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Organizational & Leadership Development Leader
References
Bass, B. M. (1990). Bass & Stogdill’s handbook of leadership: Theory, research & managerial applications (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.
Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.