Lesson 1, Activity 1

Lesson Summary

Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of Lesson 1: What Is Leadership?

Let’s recap

During this lesson we learned how to define leadership accurately by considering the context in which leadership occurs and the relational nature of it. The conceptualization of what effective leadership is connected to the times in which it is being examined. We examined some principles and theories arising from the classical and modern periods of leadership studies, and reflected on how these have influenced our current understanding of leadership.

By completing this lesson, you should be able to:

Define leadership from multiple perspectives.
Compare two or more historical theories that have defined the contemporary conceptualization of leadership.
Evaluate which historical and theoretical perspectives have shaped their understanding of leadership.

Resources for this lesson

Here are resources that were recommended in this lesson.

“Chapter Two – History and Theory” from “The Core Competencies of Leadership: Best Practices and Research” (Knechtel 2004)
“Chapter Five – Credibility and Character” from “The Core Competencies of Leadership: Best Practices and Research” (Knechtel 2004)
“The Trouble with Character” (Stengel 1996)

Now continue on to Lesson 2: A Biblical Overview of Leadership in which you will learn more about God’s perspectives on leadership as revealed through accounts of effective leadership in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.