Tag Archives: authority

Leadership thought 12: Leadership and authority aren’t the same thing, but both need power.

Posted on November 30, 2011 by

We made with Heifetz the distinction between ‘authority’ and ‘leadership’. This distinction comes close to ‘transactional’ and ‘transformational’ leadership as explained by Bass & Riggio [i]. Authority or transactional leadership is based on a negotiation and an agreement between the ‘leader’ and … Continue reading →

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The X-factor of leadership is social influence – Epilogue

Posted on September 9, 2011 by

Social psychology has a number of lessons on leadership as the power of leadership, it’s x-factor comes from social influence. Leadership and influence become even more important when ‘authority’ fails and formal structures and systems get stuck. The last weeks … Continue reading →

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The X-factor of leadership – Source V: “Be an expert.”

Posted on September 5, 2011 by

One of the most thought-provoking psychological experiments ever, took place 50 year’s ago. Stanley Milgram* tried to understand why ordinary and decent people could be driven to commit the most atrocious acts. About 2/3 of the participants in his experiment … Continue reading →

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Ronald Heifetz* on leadership – Part IV & conclusion: “Here I stand, I can do no other.”

Posted on June 10, 2011 by

We easily associate leadership with personal courage. Why is that? Why is leadership personal at all? The answer lies in the definition of leadership. Setting the agenda for change is a personal choice. As Heifetz quotes Max Weber: “Here I … Continue reading →

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Ronald Heifetz* on leadership – Part III: the five strategic principles of leadership

Posted on June 8, 2011 by

1. Leadership identifies the adaptive challenge. It puts the finger on the values at stake and the work to be done. For leadership without authority this is easier. The sole focus enables to become the lightening rod for the issue, the … Continue reading →

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Ronald Heifetz* on leadership – Part II: the difference between power, authority and leadership

Posted on June 6, 2011 by

Leadership is often defined as social influence. That makes leadership trivial and instrumental: people using their influence to reach group goals. At the same time we all associate leadership with ‘making the difference’, ‘realizing breakthroughs’, ‘transformation’. Heifetz shows the way … Continue reading →

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Ronald Heifetz on leadership – Part I: “Leadership is not waiting for the coach’s call to adress hard problems.”

Posted on June 4, 2011 by

“How can we understand and define leadership, not only in its effectivity, but also in its morality?” “Did Hitler show great leadership?” It’s an easy question to provoke a debate on leadership. The answer to that question is not easy. … Continue reading →

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