ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 focused on what leaders have to be—or at least what they have to be seen to be—in order to be effective. But, of course, leadership is not just about being. It is also about doing. In this chapter we therefore ask the question, what do leaders have to do in order to be accepted by followers and be in a position to influence them? To put it slightly differently, how do leaders have to act in order to engage the energy and enthusiasm of the whole group and to ensure that their individual visions and projects are transformed into collective visions and projects? The traditional answer to this question is to furnish a general list of behaviors (such as fairness) that are required of the successful leader. By contrast, our analysis suggests that leaders must be seen to be working hard for the group (as opposed to working for themselves or for outgroups) and to be focused on advancing the interests of the group. What this means in terms of actual behaviours will then depend upon the norms, values and priorities of the group and will change according to the group in question. Concretely, members will only value fair leaders in conditions where fairness is a group value and hence behaving fairly promotes the group’s worldview.
