The work of leaders is change ... change requires that leaders actively seek ways to make things better, to grow, innovate, and improve ... the study of leadership is ... the study of people who triumph against overwhelming odds, who take initiative when there is inertia, who confront the established order, who mobilize people and institutions in the face of strong resistance ... the study of how men and women, in times of constancy and complacency, actively seek to disturb the status quo and awaken others to new possibilities. Leadership, challenge, and seizing the initiative
are inextricably linked. Humdrum situations simply aren't associated
with award-winning performance.
-Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge