Leadership has as many facets as does the individual leader. Whether establishing a clear vision for the organization or providing knowledge in the attempt to realize that vision, a leader, whether mayor, CEO, or fire chief, is integral to its success. All organizarions, both private and public, must have such leaders. Pose the question, "What is leadership?" and one will be confronted with a multitude of definitions. One only needs to search rhe term on the Internet to see the abundance of sources available. Carter and Rausch (1998) write that leadership has as many definitions as there are people who have attempted to define the concept. The same goes for what is effective leadership and what constitutes a successful leader. Regardless of the organization, leadership must take on a particular style depending on a multitude of variables, such as the type of profession, membership, and its function. Consequently, the leader, depending on the organization, might have to assume different roles in different times for different purposes. The idea here is that there is simply not one default leadership style. This paradigm can also be applied to the fire service but in a more defined way.
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