From the Editor

Whenever I visit a bookstore in a Latin American country, I find that most of the serious, academic books on leadership are simply translations of books written by American authors; very few are written by Latin American authors. Furthermore, little has been written about leadership in the Latino culture. To fill this void, REAL is intended to be an avenue by which those who study leadership can share their work.

Published in Spanish, REAL is an peer-reviewed academic journal that seeks to position itself among tier-one journals on issues related to leadership. Our first volume will focus on leadership and entrepreneurship, which are certainly crucial in the development of organizations and global societies. Therefore, I invite the submission of unpublished contributions to REAL to reach Hispanics around the world.

from the editor
Volume 1, Number 1 | January - June 2012

It is with great pride and satisfaction that I introduce the inaugural issue of the Revista de Estudios Avanzados de Liderazgo (REAL), which is filled with great articles. Our vision is to be the principal means of publication of the analyses, reflections, new concepts, and theories that leadership brings to the Spanish-speaking world.

While culture definitely influences styles of leadership, little has been explored about Latin American leadership styles and the differences, not only between them, but also between leadership styles in other cultures around the world. In this first issue, we focus on leadership and its relationship to business ventures. With that in mind, these five articles provide valuable contributions to the advancement of the fields of leadership and entrepreneurship.

The first piece is entitled, "Leadership and Innovative Entrepreneurship in New Technology-Based Firms: A Case Study based on a Knowledge Management Approach." This is an article of scientific research which examines the relationship between leadership and innovative entrepreneurship from a knowledge management approach. The second article, entitled "Does a Leader Need Power?" is a reflection article where power is considered a positive force used continuously to achieve individual, group, and organizational goals.

The third article, titled "Entrepreneurial Skills of Psychology Students in the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (UPTC)," is a study of scientific research that responds, in part, to the question: Are entrepreneurial competencies in students of psychology necessary for work performance? The fourth contribution is a reflection piece that explores Bodytech, a Colombian fitness company, to draw from its lessons and experiences of the entrepreneurial process. That article is titled "A Case Study of Bodytech: Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Challenges."

The fifth and last of the articles published in this inaugural issue is a scientific research paper. This paper is entitled "The Emotional Intelligence of Latin American Leaders: A Comparison between Chile and Colombia." In this closing article, the authors use the instrument of Wong and Law to compare the emotional intelligence of Chilean and Colombian leaders.

I hope you enjoy reading this inaugural issue.

Rodrigo A. Zárate, DSL
Editor