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leadership that impacts other genres. Black women’s self-defined leadership also differs
significantly from mainstream feminist models in that the focus moves away from liberal reform
goals, instead embracing more fundamental transformation. Thus, Black women’s self-defined
leadership stands as an independent model with four core tenets: 1) it is proactive in nature (vis-
à-vis simply reactive), 2) it bridges theory with practice, with each constantly informing the
other, 3) it embraces collective action/group-centered leadership (as opposed to a leader-centered
group), and 4) it employs both traditional and non-traditional methods of political engagement.
Traditional Models of Political Leadership
According to traditional models of political leadership, at the very top of the leadership hierarchy
sits the publicly elected official, with the office of the Presidency serving as the highest example.
This is not to say that works on political leadership completely exclude non-elected posts;
however, by and large, works focus on leadership by elected or appointed public officials and
recognizable heads of organizations that revolve around the governmental sphere.
While diversity of form is acknowledged in examinations of political leadership, that diversity is
restricted. In their work Political Leadership in Democratic Societies, Anthony Mughan and
Samuel C. Patterson highlight this closed view.
Political leadership can be differentiated from leadership in a wide range of social
activities, including business, entertainment, fashion, sport, morality, education, religion,
and crime. Moreover, political leadership itself assumes a diversity of forms because the
demands of individuals in positions of leadership vary with the cultural, social, economic
and political circumstances in which they operate (Mughan and Patterson 1992, 1-2).
Where Mughan and Patterson are careful to note that political leadership comes in a range of
forms, their illustration of diversity is the difference between the head of a political party and one
Convention