Have you ever been in a group in which someone took control by conveying a clear group vision with actively caring for people (AC4P) passion, and made the rest of the group feel recharged and energized? These are characteristics of an AC4P leader. AC4P leadership inspires positive change in followers. These leaders are energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate.

AC4P leaders are concerned and involved in reaching SMARTS goals (Chapter 3). They focus on helping every member of the group succeed in the process. These leaders create beneficial behavior change within a group or an organization, and they facilitate self-motivation among their followers. The measure of a leader, you see, can be defined by the amount of discretionary or self-directed behavior performed by followers.

Now, have you ever been in a group in which someone takes over by telling everyone what to do, and precisely how to do it? These are behaviors of a manager. Managers expect followers to be compliant, and they ensure compliance with an accountability system – positive and negative behavioral consequences. Managers do not seek any type of transformation or change; their aim is simply to keep people on track to reach existing group or organizational goals. Followers are carefully monitored to ensure expectations are met. The power of managers comes from their formal authority and designated responsibility in the group; the power of an AC4P leader comes from inspiration.

Finally, have you ever belonged to a group in which you were sometimes a leader and at other times a follower, depending on the task or the challenge at hand? People often switch between leader and follower roles many times in a single day, and task success depends as much on effective followership as it does on effective leadership.

So what is leadership? Leadership is the process of influencing others toward the accomplishment of goals (recall the discussion of SMARTS goals in Chapter 3). Leadership is not inherently good or bad. It becomes good or bad depending on the intentions, goals, and behavior of both leaders and followers. Goals can be constructive or destructive, helpful or harmful, legal or illegal, self-serving or prosocial. They can reflect actively caring for self or for others.