Learning Activity 3

I found it interesting that according to Northouse (2016), Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. To me, ‘process’ implies two things: that this thing called leadership happens over time, and that it involves relationship.  I believe that it is impossible to influence someone’s behaviour over a period of time without punishment except through having some type of relationship with the individual. The fact that Northouse defines leadership as a process appeals to me for 3 reasons: it is not dependent upon personal characteristics such as extraversion or personality type, it can be learned and, as mentioned above, it involves relationship.

In chapter one Northouse emphasized that leaders and followers must always be spoken of in relation to one another, like two sides of a coin. Since the relationship between the leader and the followers is key, the power differential must be used in a manner to attain the common goals held by both the leader and the follower. This results in everyone benefitting, and there are no ‘winners’ and ‘losers’.

According to Northouse, ‘influence’ goes both ways in a leader-follower relationship. The leader is influenced by the followers and vice versa. This was a new concept for me. I had previously thought of it as being unidirectional from leader to follower. However since, according to Northouse, the goal of leadership is to achieve a common goal, then the goal is really the chief focus and there is no room for a ‘winner vs loser’ mentality.

I found it interesting that emergent leaders are chosen by their peers because the leader most closely matches the group’s self-identity. I found this interesting because it goes against my previously-held notion that leaders must distinguish themselves from the group in order to be perceived as a leader. Could this positive association with the group’s perceived self-identity also apply to other types of leaders?