According to Geno Prussakov’s blog, “Emergent Leadership – Key to Success”, emergent leaders are the most respected and most followed leaders and emergent leadership is the only path to success (Prussakov, 2009). But is this really the case?
Prussakov states that becoming an emergent leader provides a “significantly better chance of really succeeding than by merely relying on our formal position of leadership”, so his audience is those in an assigned leadership position. His message to these assigned leaders is to use Northouse’s positive communications behaviors: getting involved firsthand, always staying informed, initiating new ideas and seeking others’ opinions as a path to success (Prussakov, 2009).
There are three problems with Prussakov’s theory. Based on the course readings, it can be concluded that an emergent leader would not be the same person as an assigned leader. From organizations in which I have been affiliated, the emergent leader was a peer and the assigned leader a superior. Emergent leaders do not have the position power that assigned leaders possess and present a buffer between the employee and the assigned leader.
Assigned leaders can be role models for subordinates and serve as mentors for those wishing to move up in the organization. They can possess the same communication behaviors and personality style as an emergent leader. By the same token, not all assigned leaders will be able to integrate Northouse’s positive communication behaviors or have the personality required to become an emergent leader.
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: theory and practice. Los Angeles. Sage Publications.
Prussakov, G. (2009). Emergent Leadership – Key to Success. Retrieved from: http://www.amnavigator.com/blog/2009/05/28/emergent-leadership-key-to-success/.