ABSTRACT
Leaders do not work in isolation; they need people to lead (their followers) and they usually work within some sort of formal structure (the organization). This chapter is about organizations, what they are for, how they are structured and what people do within them, their role. To make sense of this we will also look at important issues for leaders such as relationships, power, responsibility and accountability, and introduce the idea of systems as a way of making sense of how organizations work as they do. In the process, we will see how the leadership role and performance of first line and middle managers is shaped by these issues.
