Leadership is certainly not just a recipe for self-interest. Perhaps it could be for someone who does not have a higher goal than to make big money or gain control over someone. If we did not have good leaders in a variety of organizations, our world would run much harder. Leaders who can lead people well and in high quality are a valuable asset to the entire human population. They determine the influence and direction we are giving, they can inspire us, lead, enchant, sometimes we can disagree with them, and we can lead polemics. But it is also very useful because they encourage us to think for ourselves, critically evaluate everything and start to create our own opinions.

Leadership can become a recipe for self interest if taken up with a lot of vanity and narcissism. That can in turn get even chaotic when leadership is coupled with self interest. A lot of cases from the past, show us how leadership can be very destructive if coupled with self interest, vanity and narcissism. This might even notoriously lead to unethical practices at work if self interest takes over leadership. This includes the notorious list of leaders who ended up violating laws and crossing ethical boundaries for personal benefits. Leadership by definition is not a recipe for self interest but has the potential to turn around catastrophically if taken up with self interest.

Absolutely not, in my view. Of course, there are those who are solely interested in their own welfare, (think of the lengthy list of dicators in our life-time alone). However, being a leader is not always easy and being a good leader requires an array of different skill sets, many of which include some level of humanity when dealing with colleagues and other members of staff.

To an extent, you are only as good as the people who work for / with you. If you take a personal interest in your colleagues, are prepared to mentor them and encourage them in their successes, (as well as supporting them when things don't go quite according to plan), this can be immensely rewarding. Watching someone grow and develop in their role is a great reward for good management and generosity of spirit.

"Wanting to make a difference" in both a private or public capacity has given us some memorable figures over the years. Mother Teresa is just one example. She led by example and her charitable works have been recognised world-wide. No doubt there was an indomitable streak which enabled her to secure the funding she needed and the publicity required in order to generate the revenues that were required to run her charitable institutions. So, in this sense, she was certainly a leader, a leader who did so much good for humanity without any self-interest whatsoever. It was all about the poor and needy people that she served.

I don’t think so. Maybe some seek leadership for selfish reasons like money or power and in that case they become leaders for self-interest, but not all leaders are like that. Some people seek leadership for many other reason than self-interest for example some become leaders to try and solve community problems and hence help the community evolve. A good example of leadership that is not for self-interest are the leaders and creators of non profit organizations, these leaders spend their time and energy in working towards a cause that doesn’t give them anything in return, they do it just to help their cause.

Leadership could be a recipe for self-interest. It depends on who is the leader. Leader's position can bring many financial and material gains. Also, leader can quickly claimb up the ladders of power and authority in its niche/organization/town/country. We all know how tempting those hot and comfortable seats can be.

It is recipe for self-interest for those leaders who came on that position just to take care of themselves, to have a nice and regular salary and perhaps organize society according to their needs. Citizens must recognize that and act in order to stop that kind of behavior.

I do not believe so. Many leaders come from nothing and become leaders of large societies, groups or organizations that seek goals in areas where no self-interest can ever be gained.

If there were no leaders in these specific areas, for ex., green peace, the united nations, we would see the world in a much worse shape than it is right now therefore we have to thank these leaders that commit a 100% of their time to work in difficult and dangerous environments making the world a better place for everyone.