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Leadership in Organizations

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  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

Direction; Guidance; Management

Definitions

Leadership is the act of engaging others to pursue activities toward a specific goal. Organizational leadership involves engagement that supports goals that enhance the state of the organization.

Introduction

Leadership is not one approach and studying leadership is not an exact science. Definitions and explanations have varied over time. More importantly, organizational leadership style needs to vary to accommodate individual skills, organizational mission, and environmental factors.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the Supreme Commander of the European Allied Forces during World War II and the 34th President of the United States, said that “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it …” In Eisenhower’s view, leadership is essentially about motivation and interaction with others (Eisenhower 1954). Many years before, Max Weber studied leadership in which he noted that the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Roosevelt University, 430 S Michigan Ave, Room 853, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA

    Anna Marie Schuh

Authors
  1. Anna Marie Schuh
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Marie Schuh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Schuh, A.M. (2016). Leadership in Organizations. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_106-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_106-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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