In simplest terms, leadership is the talent of coordinating the efforts of many to accomplish a significant goal or task.
After reading Rath and Conchie's Strength's Based Leadership:Great Leaders, Teams and Why People Follow , I find it necessary to fine-tune my definition of leadership using a quote by Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, that was used in the book: "I've never met an effective leader who wasn't aware of his talents and working to sharpen them." It takes many people to accomplish great things. The difference between those many people and their leadership is that those leading are harvesters of strength and talent. Leaders know how to find strengths in themselves and others to form a team of experts that can successfully carry out the task at hand. So to revise, leadership is the talent of coordinating the strengths of many to accomplish a significant goal or task.
Definition of Leadership
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I really like this definition. It's simple and to the point and isn't focused entirely on the leader her or himself. Please remember to use proper APA style when referencing materials. You can use the Moodle site, the syllabus, and the course mastery checks as a starting point to see how it's done. There are also web sites which can show you this.