Recently I began to explore the blogosphere for weblogs on leadership to see if there in fact was something worth reading and digging into……
There is!!
A good startingpoint for me was to find places defining leadership.
I found a valuable resource here - Don describes leadership as:
by positively affecting
others’ actions.
How do you describe leadership and where do you experience it?
Do you know of any othere resources - please let us know 
3 comments so far
Leadership is to find out what to do, management is to find out how to do it.
The best leaders, IMHO, are those that lead by example. Act the way you want your team to act, react the way you wish them to react…exhibit the qualities you desire in your team and I have found that to be “contagious”.
Matthew, I absolutely agree with your comment. I too have found that leading by example is a very effective way of managing people.
Managers who engage in modelling the behaviours and values that are most appropriate and beneficial to their particular context inspire their team and the required modes of operation are gradually incorporated into the everyday practices of the group. Group dynamics and interpersonal communications are complex processes and there are clearly many factors that influence the effectiveness of a team.
I’ve learnt over time a simple maxim…People respond well to leaders who treat them as intelligent players capable of making responsible and appropriate decisions. Allowing a team to “own the process” [in my experience] mostly yields results that are superior to giving directives that must be obeyed.
Effective leadership is the art of inspiration and developing mutual trust. When it is not present there is little that can be done in terms of innovation and growth.
It is not new science or rocket science but if managers can master these qualities they will likely succeed.