Leadership in the new millennium

Leadership and the resultant power and authority are always tenuous. Leadership is a most challenging and difficult form of work. Some leaders appear to be naturals whilst other designated leaders struggle to achieve and to even survive as leaders. In the relatively few years since the first printing of the forerunner to this book it is interesting to reflect on some of the business leaders mentioned in the first printing. Some have fallen from grace while some have been voted by their peers as the most admired business leaders in Australia. Australians love to debate, discuss and weigh the merits and worth of their leaders, both political and work based. The leadership ability of successive Prime Ministers and other political leaders is debated daily in newspapers and cartoonists thrive on them. People at work from the lowest paid to the highest paid always have lots of ideas on what their leader is doing wrong and how their leader should be performing, though their leader is seldom given the chance to share their knowledge (unfortunately, many would say their leader does not want to listen). We all feel the impact of leadership - we may be in awe of leadership, we may oppose it, but we are always aware of its presence. And, yet, leadership is difficult to describe. Where do we start? Do we offer definitions or do we identify the skills and characteristics required for leadership? There are five components that define the productivity of the leadership team in any organisation. These include: the individual job actions of a manager, the manager\'s personality in work related situations, the manager\'s power base, the profile of your organisation’s raw materials, tasks, capital investment and related factors, and the organisation’s culture. Leadership includes the work of guiding change, working with resistance, and mobilising partners while building competence and self-reliance in others. The traditional \"top-down\" approach to leadership has changed dramatically in recent times and will certainly continue to experience great change from traditional leadership paradigms. Traditional barriers between leaders and workers, where many leaders were unapproachable and closeted away in an upstairs office, have virtually disappeared. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, upheaval and organisational changes required different ways of leading so that people may work together more fully as part of a larger whole, rather than in separate sectors. In times of rapid change new patterns of leadership are demanded - we need the capacity of more people than just a designated few in order to create solutions and keep our work going. This book looks at various methods of leadership, identifying a changing image of leadership as existing in relationships rather than residing in one person. We realise that many of our readers will currently be in recognised leadership positions, such as running their own business, leading and or managing a