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Why Do People Become Leaders?

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Why do people become leaders?
Leaders need followers, and followers need leaders. While leadership is sometimes viewed as elitist because of the power and importance often ascribed to leaders (and the realities from different walks of life seem to confirm this- in the UK 75 per cent of senior judges, 59 per cent of the Cabinet, 44 per cent of public body chairs, 38 per cent of members of the House of Lords attended Oxbridge - compared to less than 1 per cent of the public as a whole ), in fact the leader-follower relationship are two sides of the same coin.

ASSIGNED AND EMERGENT LEADERSHIP
Some people are leaders by default, in that their formal job roles and responsibilities entail leadership functions – this is described as assigned …show more content…

One way of looking at this is that at the heart of leadership lies narcissism (REF) – which Freud (1914/57) summarised as behaviours that range from normal self-interest to a pathological self-absorption. Narcissism offers leaders the conviction about the righteousness of their cause, which in turn inspires loyalty and group identification. Narcissism can either be constructive or reactive (REF): constructive or healthy narcissists tend to make well balanced, introspective and empathetic leaders; on the other hand reactive or excessive narcissists are fixated on issues of power, prestige, status and superiority.
Career progression
Often people become leaders as this is the next logical step in career progression and this is often about position, prestige and power (not to mention “pay”!). ButSuch leaders may what might be lacking is purpose.
Transformative potential
Some people choose to lead of the best reasons to lead are because individuals sincerely because they believe that they can make a difference and have aposses a vision about how to do thisso. The best leaders put most of their energy and time into helping other people be more successful, by making connections, giving feedback and providing the resources they need to succeed .
This is at the heart

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