The Evolution of Leadership
Leadership has long intrigued humankind and has been the topic of extensive literature for centuries. The earliest writings include philosophies of leadership such as Machiavelli’s The Prince and biographies of great leaders. With the development of the social sciences during the 20th century, inquiry into leadership became prolific. Studies on leadership have emerged from every discipline “that has had some interest in the subject of leadership: anthropology, business administration, educational administration, history, military science, nursing administration, organizational behavior, philosophy, political science, public administration, psychology, sociology, and theology”
As a result, there are many different leadership approaches and theories. While the words are often used interchangeably, approaches and theories are different conceptually. An approach is a general way of thinking about a phenomenon, not necessarily based on empirical research. A theory usually includes a set of hypotheses, principles, or laws that explain a given phenomenon. Theories are more refined and can provide a predictive framework in analyzing the phenomenon. For example, the spiritual leadership approach is a conceptualization of leadership that does not yet have a body of empirical research to validate it, while contingency leadership theory has a refined set of propositions based on the results of multiple research studies.
Not unlike fashion, approaches to and theories of leadership have evolved, changed focus and direction, and built upon one another during the past century. To understand this evolution, a brief historical view can be helpful:
Trait Theories The early trait approach focused on identifying the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by widely revered social, political, and military leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Moses, and Joan of Arc. Also called “Great Man” theories, these studies of leadership traits were especially strong from 1900 to the early 1940s and enjoyed a renewed emphasis beginning in the 1970s as researchers began to examine visionary and charismatic leadership. In the 1980s, researchers linked leadership to the “Big Five” personality factors while interest in emotional intelligence as a trait gained favor in the 1990s.
Behavior Theories In the late 1930s, leadership research began to focus on behavior—what leaders do and how they act. Groundbreaking studies by researchers at The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan in the 1940s and 1950s analyzed how leaders acted in small group situations. The behavior approach hit its heyday in the early 1960s with Blake and Moulton’s work exploring how managers use task and relationship behaviors in the organizational setting.
Situational Theories The premise of these theories is that different situations demand different kinds of leadership. Serious examination of the situational role in leadership began in the late 1960s by Hersey and Blanchard. Situational approaches continued to be refined and revised from the 1970s through the 1990s. One of these, path–goal theory, examines how leaders use employee motivation to enhance performance and satisfaction. Another approach, contingency theory, focuses on the match between the leader’s style and specific situational variables.
