• the process of leading.
• those entities that perform one or more acts of leading.
• the ability to affect human behaviour so as to accomplish a mission designated by

the leader Compare the discussions on group leadership and ad hoc leadership above.In some languages the term for a leader and the term for the principle of leadership have very different meanings. Furthermore, note the different connotations of a synonym of the word "leader" adopted from the German: the word Führer, and its accompanying ideas on the Führerprinzip.