Everyone, at some time in life, is asked to be a leader, whether to lead a classroom discus- sion, coach a children’s soccer team, or direct a fund-raising cam— paign. Many situations require leadership. A leader may have a high profile (e.g., an elected public Official) or a low profile (e. g., a volun- teer leader in Big Brothers Big Sisters), but in every situation there are AUTQOR leadership demands placed on the individual who is the leader. Being a leader is challenging, exciting, and rewarding, and carries with it many responsibilities. This chapter discusses different ways of look ing at leadership and their impacts on what it means to be a leader. Leadership At the outset, it is important to address a basic question: What is lead- ership? Scholars who study leadership have struggled with this ques- tion for many decades and have written a great deal about the nature of leadership
