THE CONCEPTS “LEADER” AND “LEADERSHIP” IN MODERN SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE

This article is dedicated to the revelation of essence of the concepts “leader” and “leadership” in modern science. The essence of the concepts “leader” and “leadership” has been defined in terms of different sciences, namely: philosophy, sociology, political science, psychology, pedagogy. In philosophy a leader is considered to be the most authoritative member of organization or social group. In sociology and economics a leader is a person who can have great authority and influence on a group and can be its head (due to his personal features). In political science a leader is a person who is a head of a political party or a social organization. In psychology and pedagogy a leader is a person who can be a head of a group, influence other people's behaviour in important situations, have a high status in group, make decisions, take the initiative, play the leading part in organization of joint activities and regulation of relationships. In sociology leadership means social relations of domination and subjugation in a group, organization or society, and these relations are based on leaders' ability to make decision, control and influence other people. In political science leadership is considered to be not only a set of personal brilliant qualities and abilities but a special kind of interpersonal relationships. In psychology and pedagogy leadership is a typical system of methods of influence on subordinates. The differences in meaning between the concepts “leader” and “head” have been characterized. The main difference is that a head is appointed officially, but a leader is nominated unofficially. Another difference is that a head has many official rights and authorization, but a leader does not have legal authorization. Moreover, a head can represent a group in the environment and solve tasks connected with relations with other groups, but a leader acts and regulates primarily the relations in his group. Finally, a head is responsible for the situation in a group and the results of its activity, but a leader does not have any responsibility for insufficient work of a group and the situation in it. The best situation is when a leader is an official head in a group. The theories of leadership have been revealed. They are the theory of leader roles, the theory of features, interactive theo