---
title: "What Is Leadership? Dental Practice Glossary | Copeland Consulting Services"
description: "Guiding a group toward shared goals by setting direction, influencing others and earning trust, a topic that research describes in several different styles."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/leadership
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Leadership and communication

# Leadership

Guiding a group toward shared goals by setting direction, influencing others and earning trust, a topic that research describes in several different styles.

Leadership is the act of guiding people toward a common aim. A review of the topic in healthcare says leadership has been described as the behavior of an individual when directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal.

Styles differ. Some leaders focus on vision, some on service to the team, some on results. [Servant leadership](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/servant-leadership) is one named style. In dentistry the idea reaches from the owner dentist to team leads and managers. It overlaps with [soft skills](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/soft-skills) such as listening and clear speech.

See [dental leadership](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/dental-leadership) for the dental setting. Research on leadership describes patterns across groups and does not promise a result for one office. This entry is a general definition.

[Next stepPractice consulting with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=consulting)

## Related terms

-   [Dental leadership](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/dental-leadership)
-   [Servant leadership](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/servant-leadership)
-   [Soft skills](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/soft-skills)
-   [Emotional intelligence](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/emotional-intelligence)

## Sources

1.  [PMC, Leadership of Healthcare Professionals: Where Do We Stand?](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3725246/)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)