Instructor Manual: Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
Instructor Manual
Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does
It Mean to Be a Leader?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Purpose and Perspective of the Chapter......................................................................2
Key Terms.....................................................................................................................2
What's New in This Chapter........................................................................................3
Chapter Outline.............................................................................................................4
Additional Activities and Assignments.......................................................................15
Additional Resources..................................................................................................17
Primary Sources....................................................................................................................................... 17
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 1
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
PURPOSE AND PERSPECTIVE OF THE CHAPTER
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the fundamental concepts of leadership and establish a
foundation for understanding effective leadership in today’s rapidly changing organizational environment.
This chapter explores the comprehensive definition of leadership as an influence for relationships among
leaders and followers who intend real progress and change toward shared purposes. Students will examine
the critical paradigm shifts facing modern leaders, including the transition from stabilizer to change
initiator, controller to coach, competitor to collaborator, diversity avoider to diversity promoter, and hero
to humble leader. The chapter distinguishes leadership from management while emphasizing their
complementary nature, traces the evolution of leadership theories from Great Man approaches to
contemporary relational theories, and addresses how emerging technologies like GenAI impact leadership
practices. Additionally, students will identify common leadership derailment factors and essential
competencies for success while learning practical approaches for developing leadership skills through
conscious competence building and micropractice applications in everyday situations.
KEY TERMS
Behavior theories: Leadership theories from the early 1950s that focused on what leaders do rather
than who they are and examine actual leadership behaviors and activities.
Contingency theories: Leadership theories emphasize that effective leadership depends on situational
variables such as follower characteristics, work environment, and external conditions.
Derailment: A phenomenon in which a manager with an impressive track record reaches a certain
level but goes off track and cannot advance due to mismatched personal skills and job requirements.
Emergent leadership: The extent to which an individual with no formal status or authority is
perceived by group members as demonstrating leader-like influence based on personal qualities.
Enlightened leadership: A leadership approach that involves giving up traditional control and
encouraging the growth and development of others to ensure organizational flexibility, responsiveness,
and inclusivity.
GenAI: A digital learning system based on huge data sets that can generate unique and human-like high-
quality text, pictures, music, and computer coding.
Great Man theories: The earliest leadership concept believing that leaders were born with heroic
traits and natural abilities of power and influence, typically conceptualized as male figures.
Humility: Being unpretentious and modest rather than arrogant and prideful, characterized by lack of
ego and concern for others’ success over personal recognition.
Influence theories: Leadership theories examining influence processes between leaders and
followers, including charismatic leadership, vision, and organizational culture.
Leadership: An influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend to make real progress
and change to reach desired outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.
Management: The attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through
planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational resources.
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 2
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
Paradigm: A shared mindset that represents a fundamental way of thinking about, perceiving, and
understanding the world.
Relational theories: Leadership theories focusing on how leaders and followers interact and
influence one another, viewing leadership as a relational process that engages all participants.
Trait theories: Leadership theories beginning in the 1920s that examined particular traits or
characteristics that distinguished leaders from nonleaders and contributed to success.
Vision: A vivid mental image of what the organization will accomplish in the future, providing direction
and inspiring followers toward a desirable outcome.
[return to top]
WHAT'S NEW IN THIS CHAPTER
The following elements are improvements in this chapter from the previous edition:
New section: How Will GenAI Affect Leadership?
The outcome of The Wall Street Journal’s challenge to a GenAI model to write an original
business plan for a fictional startup.
New Bookshelf: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad
Ones.
Introduced the concept of service leadership proposed by McKinsey & Co.
New “Think on This” box: Should Leaders Strive to Be Nice or Kind?
New opening illustration about Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s huge impact as an effective
leader.
Expanded discussion of leadership humility.
Introduce the concept of leaders as coaches rather than as controllers.
Standard Chartered Bank of London trained 14,000 middle managers to be leadership coaches.
Example of unethical behavior by Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Illustration of effective informal leadership by Larissa May, founder of nonprofit Half the Story.
Illustration of CEO Daniel Rogge leading rapid changes to stay ahead of Trump’s 2025 tariffs.
Leader example of AON CEO Greg Case building a top team of collaborators from previous
competitors.
Former MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga’s leadership vision of “kill cash.”
Intuit’s top leaders improved their leadership behaviors by sharing their unedited performance
reviews with employees.
Changed the names and updated the content of end-of-chapter cases to thwart online case answer
providers.
[return to top]
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Chapter Objectives
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 3
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
LO 1-1 Explain the full meaning of leadership and the possible impact of GenAI
on leadership.
Key Concept 1: Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who
intend real progress and change to reach desired outcomes that reflect their shared purposes,
involving reciprocal influence, personal responsibility, and shared vision.
Discussion Question: How does the definition of leadership as a reciprocal
influence relationship challenge traditional notions of hierarchical authority, and
what implications does this have for emerging leaders in your generation?
Sample Response: This definition emphasizes that leadership flows in multiple
directions rather than just top-down, requiring leaders to be responsive to
followers’ needs and input. It suggests that effective leadership today requires
collaboration and shared decision making rather than authoritarian control, making
emotional intelligence and relationship-building skills more critical than positional
power.
Teaching Tips/Strategies: Students may initially resist the idea that
followers influence leaders, as this challenges traditional power structures they’ve
observed. Use examples of successful leaders who actively seek input and adapt
based on feedback to illustrate this concept. Encourage discussion about times
when students have influenced authority figures through their actions or
suggestions.
Key Concept 2: Emergent leadership occurs when individuals without formal authority
demonstrate leader-like influence based on personal qualities, mission, and ability to inspire
others rather than positional power.
Discussion Question: In what situations have you observed emergent
leadership in your own experiences, and what personal qualities enabled these
informal leaders to gain influence without formal authority?
Sample Response: Emergent leaders often arise during crises, group projects,
or social movements where formal leadership is absent or ineffective. They
typically demonstrate expertise, strong communication skills, genuine care for
others’ welfare, and the courage to take initiative when others hesitate to act.
Teaching Tips/Strategies: Help students recognize that they are likely to
have more leadership opportunities than they realize by sharing examples of
student leaders, community organizers, or workplace informal leaders. Address
potential concerns about “stepping on toes” by emphasizing that emergent
leadership often fills gaps rather than competing with formal authority.
Key Concept 3: GenAI can automate routine tasks and enhance productivity, but human
leaders remain essential for providing empathy, strategic vision, relationship building, and the
social skills needed to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics.
Discussion Question: As GenAI becomes more prevalent in organizations,
which human leadership capabilities do you believe will become most valuable,
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 4
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Instructor Manual
Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does
It Mean to Be a Leader?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Purpose and Perspective of the Chapter......................................................................2
Key Terms.....................................................................................................................2
What's New in This Chapter........................................................................................3
Chapter Outline.............................................................................................................4
Additional Activities and Assignments.......................................................................15
Additional Resources..................................................................................................17
Primary Sources....................................................................................................................................... 17
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 1
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
PURPOSE AND PERSPECTIVE OF THE CHAPTER
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the fundamental concepts of leadership and establish a
foundation for understanding effective leadership in today’s rapidly changing organizational environment.
This chapter explores the comprehensive definition of leadership as an influence for relationships among
leaders and followers who intend real progress and change toward shared purposes. Students will examine
the critical paradigm shifts facing modern leaders, including the transition from stabilizer to change
initiator, controller to coach, competitor to collaborator, diversity avoider to diversity promoter, and hero
to humble leader. The chapter distinguishes leadership from management while emphasizing their
complementary nature, traces the evolution of leadership theories from Great Man approaches to
contemporary relational theories, and addresses how emerging technologies like GenAI impact leadership
practices. Additionally, students will identify common leadership derailment factors and essential
competencies for success while learning practical approaches for developing leadership skills through
conscious competence building and micropractice applications in everyday situations.
KEY TERMS
Behavior theories: Leadership theories from the early 1950s that focused on what leaders do rather
than who they are and examine actual leadership behaviors and activities.
Contingency theories: Leadership theories emphasize that effective leadership depends on situational
variables such as follower characteristics, work environment, and external conditions.
Derailment: A phenomenon in which a manager with an impressive track record reaches a certain
level but goes off track and cannot advance due to mismatched personal skills and job requirements.
Emergent leadership: The extent to which an individual with no formal status or authority is
perceived by group members as demonstrating leader-like influence based on personal qualities.
Enlightened leadership: A leadership approach that involves giving up traditional control and
encouraging the growth and development of others to ensure organizational flexibility, responsiveness,
and inclusivity.
GenAI: A digital learning system based on huge data sets that can generate unique and human-like high-
quality text, pictures, music, and computer coding.
Great Man theories: The earliest leadership concept believing that leaders were born with heroic
traits and natural abilities of power and influence, typically conceptualized as male figures.
Humility: Being unpretentious and modest rather than arrogant and prideful, characterized by lack of
ego and concern for others’ success over personal recognition.
Influence theories: Leadership theories examining influence processes between leaders and
followers, including charismatic leadership, vision, and organizational culture.
Leadership: An influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend to make real progress
and change to reach desired outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.
Management: The attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through
planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational resources.
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 2
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
Paradigm: A shared mindset that represents a fundamental way of thinking about, perceiving, and
understanding the world.
Relational theories: Leadership theories focusing on how leaders and followers interact and
influence one another, viewing leadership as a relational process that engages all participants.
Trait theories: Leadership theories beginning in the 1920s that examined particular traits or
characteristics that distinguished leaders from nonleaders and contributed to success.
Vision: A vivid mental image of what the organization will accomplish in the future, providing direction
and inspiring followers toward a desirable outcome.
[return to top]
WHAT'S NEW IN THIS CHAPTER
The following elements are improvements in this chapter from the previous edition:
New section: How Will GenAI Affect Leadership?
The outcome of The Wall Street Journal’s challenge to a GenAI model to write an original
business plan for a fictional startup.
New Bookshelf: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad
Ones.
Introduced the concept of service leadership proposed by McKinsey & Co.
New “Think on This” box: Should Leaders Strive to Be Nice or Kind?
New opening illustration about Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s huge impact as an effective
leader.
Expanded discussion of leadership humility.
Introduce the concept of leaders as coaches rather than as controllers.
Standard Chartered Bank of London trained 14,000 middle managers to be leadership coaches.
Example of unethical behavior by Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Illustration of effective informal leadership by Larissa May, founder of nonprofit Half the Story.
Illustration of CEO Daniel Rogge leading rapid changes to stay ahead of Trump’s 2025 tariffs.
Leader example of AON CEO Greg Case building a top team of collaborators from previous
competitors.
Former MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga’s leadership vision of “kill cash.”
Intuit’s top leaders improved their leadership behaviors by sharing their unedited performance
reviews with employees.
Changed the names and updated the content of end-of-chapter cases to thwart online case answer
providers.
[return to top]
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Chapter Objectives
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 3
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 9e © 2027, 9798214053677; Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
LO 1-1 Explain the full meaning of leadership and the possible impact of GenAI
on leadership.
Key Concept 1: Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who
intend real progress and change to reach desired outcomes that reflect their shared purposes,
involving reciprocal influence, personal responsibility, and shared vision.
Discussion Question: How does the definition of leadership as a reciprocal
influence relationship challenge traditional notions of hierarchical authority, and
what implications does this have for emerging leaders in your generation?
Sample Response: This definition emphasizes that leadership flows in multiple
directions rather than just top-down, requiring leaders to be responsive to
followers’ needs and input. It suggests that effective leadership today requires
collaboration and shared decision making rather than authoritarian control, making
emotional intelligence and relationship-building skills more critical than positional
power.
Teaching Tips/Strategies: Students may initially resist the idea that
followers influence leaders, as this challenges traditional power structures they’ve
observed. Use examples of successful leaders who actively seek input and adapt
based on feedback to illustrate this concept. Encourage discussion about times
when students have influenced authority figures through their actions or
suggestions.
Key Concept 2: Emergent leadership occurs when individuals without formal authority
demonstrate leader-like influence based on personal qualities, mission, and ability to inspire
others rather than positional power.
Discussion Question: In what situations have you observed emergent
leadership in your own experiences, and what personal qualities enabled these
informal leaders to gain influence without formal authority?
Sample Response: Emergent leaders often arise during crises, group projects,
or social movements where formal leadership is absent or ineffective. They
typically demonstrate expertise, strong communication skills, genuine care for
others’ welfare, and the courage to take initiative when others hesitate to act.
Teaching Tips/Strategies: Help students recognize that they are likely to
have more leadership opportunities than they realize by sharing examples of
student leaders, community organizers, or workplace informal leaders. Address
potential concerns about “stepping on toes” by emphasizing that emergent
leadership often fills gaps rather than competing with formal authority.
Key Concept 3: GenAI can automate routine tasks and enhance productivity, but human
leaders remain essential for providing empathy, strategic vision, relationship building, and the
social skills needed to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics.
Discussion Question: As GenAI becomes more prevalent in organizations,
which human leadership capabilities do you believe will become most valuable,
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 4
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
