The origins of leadership

The purposes of this paper are to outline the origins of leadership and explain its role in human civilization. The methodology is analytical and discursive. The paper addresses three themes: leadership as a social institution, a field of inquiry, and as a vocation. The research is based on a survey of the leadership literature. The discussion is organized thematically. The paper offers five principal conclusions: leadership is ancient, a universal social institution, a key determinant of progress in human civilization, a new field of inquiry, and that the job of leader is poorly understood.