So You Want to Be a Leader… Start With This Book!
Peter G. Northouse’s book “Leadership – Theory and Practice” is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive and robust publications on leadership. It presents an overview of many leadership theories, approaches, and views while highlighting the importance of situational context in successful leadership. The book examines power and influence, motivation, communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, and team building, among other issues, from both theoretical and practical perspectives.
The definition of leadership has changed greatly over the last century even though it has a common theme. I enjoyed readying all of the evolutions throughout the last century. Northouse however, defines leadership as: “process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” (1)
“Leadership is not about the leader but about those being led and the context in which leadership takes place.” (2)
Northouse divides the material into 16 chapters, each focusing on a different form of leadership idea or approach. In Chapter 2, he starts it off by analyzing trait-based approaches to leadership which would include major leadership traits such as intelligence, self confidence, integrity, determination, sociability. He then talks about more current theories, such as situational and transformational leadership, which take situational context into account. Next he looks at diverse organizational structures, distinguishing between typical hierarchical systems and non-hierarchical flat forms inside corporations. Following that, he delves into other team building approaches, such as self-managed teams and dispersed and emotional intelligence (my favorite), to highlight how collective working tactics can enhance individual contributions within a group environment.
Each chapter is built for ultimate understanding and consistency and reads as follows:
Description
Model/Further Explanation
Explanation of how x model works
Strengths
Criticism
Application
Case Studies
Leadership Instrument
Summary
“Leadership involves a number of processes, all of which are bidirectional—connecting leaders with followers and followers to leaders.” (3)
Northouse’s work is centered on ethical challenges in leadership today, such as diversity management within businesses, fairness in decision-making processes, and current sexism difficulties in organizational structures. This section concludes with debates on global representation in top positions, as well as challenging previous views of what constituted acceptable behavior for leaders prior to digitization, which has fundamentally altered expectations about leader roles in recent years. When researching this further I found a blog from an individual at Penn State that identified how it is helpful for individuals to understand their own cultural values and how they influence their approach to leadership for effectiveness. Research on the trait approach to leadership frequently emphasize masculine attributes as advantageous, reflecting an underlying belief that leadership is essentially male. This is related to vertical sex segregation, which reveals that men are more likely than women to be hired at higher levels. Meanwhile, benevolent sexism fosters ideas of traditional femininity and may limit women’s job progression opportunities due to a lack of necessary career support. It is crucial to critically examine the relationship between sexism and our view of excellent leadership. You can read more about her blog here. (4) I continued to investigate this within the United States specifically and found several charts that were actually a little mind boggling to me. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words…(5)
“Leaders must be mindful that their decisions and actions can have long-term impacts on people, organizations, and societies; thus, ethical considerations should be taken into account when making any decision or taking any action as a leader.” (6)
Northouse considers how technology has changed what it means to be a leader today, particularly in the context of remote working, where psychology-based strategies such as emotional contexts have become critical for maintaining morale among dispersed teams operating under remote conditions. His vast research on virtual communication methods such as video conferencing makes this book required reading for any aspiring leader seeking advice on how to best navigate these new territories created by fast technological change over the last decade or so.
Finally as a whole, Leadership – Theory & Practice provides vital direction for anybody attempting to better understand their role as a leader today, whether that includes managing gender or racial inequities or staying aware of new communication technologies affecting our work lives. There are numerous lessons here important not only to individuals aspiring to higher responsibility, but also to societies at large transitioning to more equitable models in the face of ongoing globalization debates.. I appreciated throughout the book the consistencies of format as well as detailed contents which included case studies, strengths, applications, and criticisms in each chapter.
“It is beneficial for individuals to understand themselves in terms of their own cultural values and how they influence their approach to leadership; this self-awareness can make them more effective leaders.” (7)
(1) Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice 6th ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2013), 5.
(2) Northouse, P. G. (2022). Chapter 1. In Leadership: Theory and practice. essay, SAGE.
(3) Northouse, P. G. (2022). Chapter 6. In Leadership: Theory and practice. essay, SAGE.
(4) Liebhardt, A. M., says, A. M. L., & says, ejn5135. (2021, January 27). Home. Leadership. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2021/01/27/sexism-in-leadership-trait-approach/
(5) Gender segregation at work: “separate but equal” or “inefficient and unfair”. Equitable Growth. (2019, April 22). Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://equitablegrowth.org/gender-segregation-at-work-separate-but-equal-or-inequitable-and-inefficient/
(6) Northouse, P. G. (2022). Chapter 13. In Leadership: Theory and practice. essay, SAGE.
(7) Northouse, P. G. (2022). Chapter 4. In Leadership: Theory and practice. essay, SAGE.
About the Author
Alana Hayes
Alana is a mother to four beautiful children and wife to a farmer in Texas. She is an avid world traveler with a heart for both the world and education. She is the president of the nonprofit Against the Grain Texas where they focus on providing education to children overseas and at risk adults in the states. To date the nonprofit has given almost $100,000 to individuals around the world. In her free time she loves spending meaningful time with people and reading to further her personal education.3 responses to “So You Want to Be a Leader… Start With This Book!”
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Alana,
Which leadership theory were you most drawn too in your non-profit or business work? I find that I am drawn to a few styles and learning to be conversant in multiple styles is helpful.
Alana,
This is so true:
“Northouse considers how technology has changed what it means to be a leader today, particularly in the context of remote working, where psychology-based strategies such as emotional contexts have become critical for maintaining morale among dispersed teams operating under remote conditions.”
Someone could have this be the emphasis of their NPO! Working ender remote conditions has pros and cons! I am finding this to be true in this doctorate program at times.
I appreciated this as well:
” I appreciated throughout the book the consistencies of format as well as detailed contents which included case studies, strengths, applications, and criticisms in each chapter.”
The author did well at signposting. I want to grow in this skill (intentionally including this in my writing).
I like the last quote that you share. I am challenged to think about this. I am curious how you are becoming more self aware and how this impacts how you are leading/orchestrating Fred’s?
Great job friend. Great post.
One more thing
That chart!! Whoa! That is something!
There is a lot to think about and consider when looking at this.