Chapter 4. World-Class Leadership for World-Class Teams

Andrew Kakabadse

Leadership has been one of the most debated topics in history. From military leaders such as Napoleon and Wellington to social movement leaders such as Martin Luther King and Mohandas Gandhi, the debate has raged as to the characteristics of great leaders. Despite the potency of such discourse, the composition of leadership still remains devoid of universally clear criteria and parameters. Leadership can be viewed variously as the innate characteristics of the great men and women of history; as the personal relationship between the individual and the group; as the process of striving toward common goals and values; or as aspects of behavior, whether desired and in control of the individual, or, alternatively, reactive and driven by a number of forces in the environment.

Bearing in mind these varying interpretations, this chapter provides a brief history of the subject of leadership, highlighting why considerations of leadership have now become central to the growth and development of today's corporations. Further, analysis focuses on how the development of the corporate organization is likely to demand the application of particular leadership philosophies and practices to ensure the survival and prosperity of the enterprise. The point is that leadership cannot solely concentrate on the individual. Considerations of leadership, whether concerned with the individual or the team of which the individual is a member, will need to be linked to a broader concept of enterprise value, be that shareholder or stakeholder value. What is becoming increasingly evident is that shareholder, customer, supplier, and media confidence in an organization is affected by the perceived impact of the organization's leadership on the worth of the enterprise. Hence, the psychology of leadership and the economics of business administration have become irrevocably intermingled.