In this chapter, you learned different approaches to explaining leadership. We know that leaders possess traits and skills that make them successful. They are effective communicators. They use different sources of power and rely on a variety of influence techniques.They are successful at motivating people to voluntarily pursue goals. Leaders can be villains or heroes, trailblazers and visionaries, revolutionaries or college students. The purpose of this exercise is to examine the skills displayed by famous leaders and to determine how you might use this knowledge to improve your leadership skills.

Instructions

Pick two leaders to compare and contrast. Try to pick leaders that seem vastly different from one anotherfor example, Steve Jobs and Mother Teresa. You could also try to select one leader who is effective and one who is not (e.g., someone who went to prison).

Complete the form and answer the discussion questions at the end of the document in a brief paragraph.

Questions for Discussion

1. In what ways were the leadership styles of these leaders similar and different? Explain.

2.Which one of these leaders would you want to work for? Explain your rationale.

3.What did you find most interesting about doing this comparison?