What is this thing called leadership?

  In this section of The Leader's Companion, different authors tackled what the definition of leadership is.  As a whole, the results were inconclusive.  Different wording or terminology separated the various definitions and there was alternative opinions on the foundations of this word "leadership" that has come about only in the past 300 years.  
  Bernard Bass takes a very succinct approach in defining the meaning of leadership.  I appreciate that he acknowledges the multitude of definitions without polluting his section with different definitions and jargon (Wren 1995).  He simply postulates that leadership's meaning is somewhat contingent on the setting that it is being defined in and then launches into his definition:

"Leadership has been conceived as the focus of group processes, as a matter of personality, as a matter of inducing compliance, as the exercise of influence, as particular behavior, as a form of persuasion, as a power relation, as an instrument to achieve goals, as an effect of interaction, as a differentiated role, as initiation of structure, and as many combinations of these definitions" (Wren 1995 p. 38).

  On the other hand, Richard Hughes, Robert Ginnett and Gordan Curphy use a narrative to introduce their answer to the question, "what is leadership?"  A synopsis of the novel, Alive, begins their section, telling of the plane that crashed in the Andes mountains and how the survivors of the crash were saved from the equally dangerous mountain environment (Wren 1995 p. 40).  They then introduce the multiplicity of leadership ideas and theories using a number of popular definitions.  They then highlight the differences and suggest a moral relativist-like answer that they are all correct definitions in their own regard.  The take home message of the essay becomes that we are all a part of the leadership process because we are all striving towards a goal of some kind.  
  Amongst all this discussion of leadership, the quote that Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy end with concerning striving towards a common goal resonates most soundly but in both chapters very little lip-service was given to followership.  The Art of Followership, is just one book that gives adequate  weight to the importance of the follower (2008).  I wish that these chapters had made a greater deal of the impact that a follower has as a leader and the examination of that paradigm.  
  I personally hold that while leadership is incredibly complex and cannot be narrowed down to any sort of succinct definition, it is intellectually lazy to state that there is no correct definition of leadership.  Narrowing down leadership would also require us to disagree with someone about leadership which would entail conflict of some kind which can be perceived as more work than it is worth.  For this reason, I appreciate Bass' definition as being firm.  While I would prefer it to be more succinct and direct, at least he makes a good faith effort.  This relates to science and biology more specifically because while the sciences are fundamentally more tangible and measurable, it is still difficult to define and stick to definitions within science much less the ethics of science.  I want to spend the time, energy and effort to truly know what I believe and how it applies to my life, both in leadership and in biology and the corresponding ethics of both. 
  As for now, Young Life can at times take a relatively ambiguous and free spirited approach to how to present the Christian faith.  We can at times beat around the bush so much that students do not even know we are Christians.  As we come together as a group striving for a common goal, it takes leadership to ensure that we are making every effort to achieve the common goal and avoid taking a laizze faire approach as soon as it is convenient.  

Riggio, R; Chaleff, I; Lipman-Blumen, J (2008) The Art of Followership.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Wren, J (1995) A Leader's Companion. New York: The Free Press