Sanjeev Kumar

“the Great Man theory (that leaders are born not made, the concept closest to our idea of some people, such as Rick Rescorla, having the ‘right stuff’); trait theory (a derivative of Great Man theory, which posits that leaders are distinguished by the traits or attributes they display, such as integrity and trustworthiness); psychoanalytic theory (Freud’s idea that all social groups are representations of the family); charismatic leadership (in which a figure attracts followers purely on the basis of personality); behavioural theory (that effective leadership results from certain behaviours); situational theory (that the way leadership is executed depends on the situation); contingency theory (an expansion of situational theory, which, in addition to situation, takes account of variables such as the kind of task for which leadership is required and how much power the leader has); transactional versus transformational leadership theory (which contrasts a fairly conventional style of leadership with a more visionary, inspirational style); distributed leadership theory (which eschews a strict hierarchy for a more fluid model, in which leadership roles are shared naturally rather than being formally assigned); and servant leadership theory, in which leadership is carried out purely for the benefit of the group, often at cost to the leader himself.”
― Van Vugt, Mark, Naturally Selected: Why Some People Lead, Why Others Follow, and Why It Matters

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

“In effect, evolution has fixed the capacity for followership – and the recognition of leadership potential – into our grey matter. It takes minimal effort to coax these facilities to the fore: we have found that, if you throw a group of people together to perform a task, it can take as little as 25 seconds for the group to nominate a leader and fall into line behind him. The chosen one will usually have some special expertise that will help the group, making him an appropriate focal point for followership (or he’ll be the loudest, and we’ll see later why good talkers are able to command leadership positions).”
― Van Vugt, Mark, Naturally Selected: Why Some People Lead, Why Others Follow, and Why It Matters

“The phenomenon seems too diverse, with too many variables (personality, family background, culture, education) to come together in one coherent picture of what makes an effective leader. There are so many flavours of figureheads: autocrats, tyrants, warlords, democrats and kings (and, rarely, queens). There are benevolent leaders and greedy leaders, reluctant leaders who have greatness thrust upon them and others who feel compelled to thrust their own, self-perceived greatness on others. We have charming leaders and Machiavellian leaders (often, the former turn out to be the latter, and it can be most disconcerting when the truth oozes out).”
― Van Vugt, Mark, Naturally Selected: Why Some People Lead, Why Others Follow, and Why It Matters