How Psychology Helps Us Understand Leadership

In a recent interview I was asked why it was important to include psychology in the study of leadership. As a psychologist, I find leadership to be such an obvious psychological topic that I was a bit surprised by the question. It caused me, however, to reflect on the many ways that psychological knowledge contributes to our understanding of leadership, and here are 4 important ways.

Leadership is a Social Construction. One way to define leadership is to view it as socially constructed by humans. In our social groups, we create the role of “leader” and others play the “follower” role. According to Implicit Leadership theories, we all have, in our heads, conceptions of what leaders should look and behave like, and we use these to guide our leader (or follower) behaviors.

Look at how leadership gets constructed in new groups – perhaps in a jury, or in a club, or on a nonprofit board or homeowners association. Collectively we decide that we need a leader – a jury foreman, a president, etc. Then, we nominate someone, or somebody steps forward and volunteers to lead. We then collectively affirm (or reject) that leader, often by voting. Then the newly-elected leaders use their implicit notions of the leader role to behave in ways consistent with that mental model. If the person believes leaders should be strong and authoritarian, that will guide the person’s behavior. If their mental model is that of a “servant leader” that leader will allow the group members to set the agenda.

Leadership is About Social Power and Control. Consistent with the leader role is the notion of power. Formal leaders have power, or what might better be called “authority,” simply by virtue of the position they hold. The US President, for example, has multiple powers – over the military, the ability to issue executive orders, and to command and control many federal agencies.

In addition to formal, position power, a leader also has personal power – the ability to persuade and influence others. The study of social influence is a major topic in social psychology, examining, for example, how leaders can get followers to do their bidding by offering something in exchange (money, prestige, a job). Others might willingly follow a leader because the leader is seen as a knowledgeable expert who can lead us in a positive direction.

Psychological science also distinguishes between “personalized” and “socialized” power and tells us something about the nature of the leader. Personalized power is when the leader uses power and authority to satisfy selfish or self-serving goals. Socialized power is when the leader uses power for the greater good.

Leadership is a Relationship. Another way to define leadership is to view it as a complex relationship between a leader and a follower. In an ideal world, there should be good communication and high levels of trust in the leader-follower relationship – just like what we all want from our interpersonal relationships. Many modern theories of leadership are relationship-based (e.g., Leader-Member Exchange Theory; Transformational Leadership; Charismatic Leadership), and assert that high-quality leader-follower relationships are the means to success.

Charismatic and Transformational leadership are predicated on the idea that there is such a strong relationship bond between followers and the charismatic leader that followers are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve shared goals.

Effective Leadership Requires Psychological Knowledge and Understanding. Ask anyone who has been in a leadership position, and they will tell you that a leader needs to be a sort of “amateur psychologist” if they want to be effective and successful. Knowing how to motivate groups and teams is a critical key to successful leadership – and motivation is a long-standing topic in psychology. The inspirational appeal of the charismatic leader is all about emotions, and emotional intelligence (knowing how to use emotions) is something that leaders need to be possess to be successful. Decision making, strategy, visioning, proactive and innovative thinking are all cognitive processes that are at the very heart of psychology, and all are necessary for a leader, and those who are being led, to be successful.