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particular leader in order to achieve a particular outcome. Ideally,
everyone should share the same vision so that they can be working toward
accomplishing the same goals. If not, leaders can often exert their influence
to refocus people’s energy through an appropriate group process so that

they more comfortably move toward what needs to be done.
15

The core problem for leaders in any organization involves getting others to
do what is required to accomplish the organization’s goals. Leaders
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today work in socially intricate organizations where they need the
assistance not only of subordinates but also of peers, superiors, and

stakeholders to accomplish their goals. Accomplishing goals that impact
the organization positively clearly requires effective leadership.

The test of a leader lies in the reaction and response of his followers. He
should not have to impose authority. Bossiness in itself never made a leader.
He must make his influence felt by example and the instilling of confidence
in his followers. The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of

the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness. General Omar
Bradley.

John Kotter, writing in Power and Influence Beyond Formal Authority, states
that enlightened leaders can make even rigid bureaucracies more flexible,
innovative, and adaptive. Such leaders can certainly make the world of

work more exciting and personally satisfying for most people. This is
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particularly true when all the members of an organization feel some sense
of participation as leaders at some level.

A leader's responsibility to the organization is to ensure that there is

appropriate leadership of some sort at all times, but this does not always or
necessarily have to be provided by top management. As will be discussed
in this book, management and leadership are not necessarily synonymous.
Generally, the stronger the involvement of staff and organization members
as leaders at some level, the more effective the organization.

15 Gifford Pinchot, “Creating Organizations with Many Leaders,” The Leader of the Future. San Francisco
CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996, p. 26.
16 Allan R. Cohen, et al., Effective Behavior in Organizations. (Homewood, Ill.: Irwin, 1984), p. 301.
17 John P. Kotter, Power and Influence Beyond Formal Authority (New York: Free Press, 1985), p. 3.

David Kolzow 12