ABSTRACT
Leadership is a relational term-it identifies a relationship in which some people are able to persuade others to adopt new values, attitudes and goals, and to exert effort on behalf of those values, attitudes and goals. The relationship is almost always configured by and played out within the parameters of a group-a small group like a team, a mediumsized group like an organization, or a large group like a nation. The values, attitudes and goals that leaders inspire others to adopt and to follow are ones that define and serve the group-and thus leaders are able to transform individual action into group action. This kind of characterization of leadership, which is certainly not uncommon (e.g., Chemers, 2001), places a premium on the role of group membership and group life in the analysis of leadership. My goal in this chapter is to describe just such an analysis of leadership-a new analysis based on the social identity approach in social psychology (see Hogg, 200la; Hogg & van Knippenberg, 2003).
