In the book, Burns (1978) states that he defined leadership as "leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations -- the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations -- of both leaders and followers" (p. 19).
Another important reason that Burns (1978) remains so popular today is that he addresses leadership styles throughout the book by using examples that can be easily related to. Moses, Napoleon, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are all discussed. How they led, why, and in what capacity can shed significant light on specific types of leadership skills and the styles with which they best fit. Also included in Burns' (1978) book are Adolf Hitler and Machiavelli, and they are all used to show how leaders who wish to be successful must make a very vital distinction between needs and wants. A leader who wants something cannot always get it, but those who do not have any goals or things that they want often do not strive to do better or to instill the idea of excelling in the people whom they lead.
According to Burns (1978), the leadership process "must be seen as part of the dynamics of conflict and of power; that leadership is nothing if not linked to collective purpose; that the effectiveness of leaders must be judged not by their press clippings but by actual social change measured by intent and by the satisfaction of human needs and expectations" (3). In other words, if the leaders are not continually changing, evolving, and growing, they are doing a disservice to themselves, their followers, their company, and their community. If they meet the needs of those groups, they are indeed successful. The distinction becomes important with meeting needs vs. satisfying wants. Leaders cannot give everyone around them everything that they want, but they can work to meet those people's needs - and individuals recognize that, keeping them 'in the loop' and interested and supporting the leader's actions, plans, and goals.
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