ABSTRACT
Considering the past as we did in the previous chapter is probably a good start in terms of understanding leadership. One could argue that the environment in which leaders operated in the past is different from the environment we live in today, and extrapolating our ndings from the past to today and the future might result in uncertainties. Fortunately, we can attempt an extrapolation to today with leaders from the twenty-rst century. Understanding the present can be a challenge in itself as ‘present’ and ‘environment’ change faster than we are accustomed to as human beings, mainly due to the impact of information and communication technologies that have shaped today’s world. It could be said, for example, that our memories are overloaded with the amount of information we get and our senses cannot process the stimulus we receive from the environment fast enough, deeming us unable to function in a fully informed way. In addition, living standards and social inuences seem to affect our emotions. If leadership is affected by the environment and today’s environment is drastically different from that of the past, then our discussion here should take these differences into consideration, at least when we make comparisons with the leaders of the past.
