ABSTRACT
Leadership has for some time been a major topic in social and organizational psychology. Three problems with emphasis on leadership as a concept can be posed: ambiguity in definition and measurement of the concept itself; the question of whether leadership has discernible effects on organizational outcomes; and the selection process in succession to leadership positions, which frequently uses organizationally irrelevant criteria and which has implications for normative theories of leadership. Kochan, Schmidt, and DeCotiis attempted to distinguish leadership from related concepts of authority and social power. Persons are selected to leadership positions. Selection of persons is constrained by the internal system of influence in the organization. The selection of persons to leadership positions is affected by a self-selection process. Leadership is attributed by observers. Social action has meaning only through a phenomenological process. The identification of certain organizational roles as leadership positions guides the construction of meaning in the direction of attributing effects to the actions of those positions.
