Abstract

This book develops a philosophy of leadership by tracing the evolution of Western ideas from philosophical perspectives, ancient and modern. Various philosophies – including ancient heroism, rationalism, cynicism, stoicism, Machiavellianism, romanticism, heroic individualism and existentialism - are pursued through a critical analysis of those ideas which are relevant to an understanding of leadership and the authority and power relationships that underpin it. Leadership is a human encounter grounded in authority and it is through a process of authorisation that leaders get their power. Leaders, therefore, have to deal with the tension between personal and social power because for everyone who concedes authority to a leader there is a choice between authority and autonomy: leaders are generally attuned to this tension and to that choice. Philosophy of Leadership has been written to arouse curiosity, not to satisfy it. What the authors have tried to do is point out that ideas about leadership necessarily draw upon both ancient and modern wisdom.