Here's an idea: Leadership is about managing imperatives.
Well, not just leadership as in corporate leadership, but also people management and collaboration.
This idea has some consequences. First of all, managing imperatives also requires one to know what needs to be done. It would appear that a foundational craft in leadership is the ability to produce and articulate units of imperatives.
Another craft is the ability to agree on imperatives. There are several ways to do that. From the simple "you are being paid to do this" the the "We have an implicit alignment of imperatives based on the organizational values." From the "I appreciate your help on this matter" to "This is a part of your job." And the choice of strategy is orders up depending on the mandate, goodwill, and other hardly measurable elements a relation possesses.
Also, some imperatives are constructive, while some a destructive. Mixing up internally imposed and externally imposed imperatives can have dire consequences for the mental health of people. Letting people think they have a choice, when in fact, they might not be sustainable. This is worth keeping in mind when the leader creates sustainable organizations.