LEADERSHIP THEORIES: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Representative Authors/
Theory Summary
Year
Theories and Models David & Luthans (1979); Leadership is an interactive process. Examples
of Interactive Fiedler & Liester (1977); include theories regarding leader’s initiation
Proccesses: Fulk & Wendler (1982); structure, the relationship between a leader’s
Multiple-Linkage Graen (1979); intelligence and his or her group’s performance,
Model, Multiple- Greene (1975); Yuki (1971) the relationship between the leader and each
Screen Model, individual rather than the group, and social
Vertical-Dyad interaction as a form of exchange or behavioral
Linkage, contingency.
Exchange Theories,
Behaviour Therories,
and Communication
Theories

Power-Influence: Coch & French (1948); The power-influence approach to leadership

Participative J. Gardner (1990); includes participative leadership. Power-
Leadership, Lewin, Lippit & White influence research examines how much the
Rationale-Deductive (1939); leader possesses and exerts. The approach also
Vroom & Yetton (1974) assumes unidirectional causality. Participative
leadership deals with power sharing and
empowerment of followers. Vroom & Yetton
proposed a prescriptive theory of leadership
assumes leaders are indirective and subordinates
are passive followers. When subordinates
possess more knowledge, however their role
should be more participative. Gardner believes
that “leadership is the process of persuasion or
example by which an individual (or leadership
team) induces a group to pursue objectives held
by the leader or shared by the leader and hid or
her followers”. He indicates that the leadership is
a role to be filled and therefore, leaders play an
integral role in the system over which they
preside.

Attribution, Bryan & Kelley (1978); Leadership is a socially constructed reality.

Information Katz & Kahn (1966); According to Mitchell et. al., “Attributions of
Processing, and Open Lord (1976, 1985); leadership by observers and group members are
System Rush & Thomas (1978); biased by their individual social realities”.
Mitchell, Larsen & Green Furthermore, individual, processual, structural,
(1977); and environmental variables are mutually casual
Newell & Simon (1972); phenomena in leadership studies; that is,
H. M. Weiss (1977) delineating cause and effect among these
variables is difficult.
Integrative: Bass; Bennis (1984, 1992,
Transformational, 1993); Burns (1978);
Values-Based Downtown (1973); Fairholm
(1991); O’Toole (1995);
DePree (1992); Tichy &
Devanna; Renesch
Charismatic Conger & Kanungu (1987);
Leadership House (1977); Kets se Vries
(1988); J. Maxwell (1999);
Meindl (1990); Shamir,
House & Arthur (1993);
Weber (1947)
Competency- Based Bennis (1993); Bayatizis;
Leadership Cameron; Quinn
Aspirational and Burns; Kouzes & Posner
Visionary Leadership (1995); Peters; Waterman
(1990); Richards & Engle
(1986)
According to Burns, transformational leadership
is a process wherein “leaders and followers raise
one another to higher levels of morality and
motivation“. Followers are assumed to transcend
self-interest for the good of the group, consider
long term objectives, and develop on awareness
of what is important. According to Bennis
effective leaders perform the three functions
align, create, and empower. Leaders transform
organizations by aligning human and other
resources, creating on organization culture that
fosters the free expression of the ideas, and
empowering others to contribute to the
organization. Bennis is known for the distinction
he makes between management and
leaadership; his view, summarized best in own
words, is: “leaders are people who do the right
thing; managers are people who do things right.”
Charismatic leadership, on the other hand,
assumes that leaders passess exceptional
qualities as perceived by subordinates. A leader’s
influence is not based upon authority or
tradition but upon the perceptions of his or her
followers. Explanations of charismatic leadership
include attribution, objective, observations, self-
concept theory, psychoanalytic, and social
contagion.
One can learn and improve critical competencies
that predict the differences between outstanding
performers (leader) and average performers.
According to Kouzes and Posner, leaders “ignite”
subordinates’ passions and serve as a compass
by which to guide followers. They define
leadership “as the art of mobilizing others to
want to struggle for shared aspirations.” The
emphasis lies in the follower’s desire to
contribute and the leader’s ability to motivate
other to action. Leaders respond to customers,
create vision, energize employees, and thrive in
fast-paced “chaotic” environments. Leadership is
about articulating visions, embodying values,
and creating the environment within which
things can be accomplished.
Managerial and Drucker (1999); Jacobs &
Strategic Leadership Jaques (1990); Jaques &
Clement (1991); Kotler
(1998, 1999); Buckingham &
Coffman (1999);
Buckingham & Clifton (2001)
Results-Based Ulrich, Zenger, & Smallwood
Leadership (1999);
Nohria, Joyce & Robertson
(2003).
Leader as Teacher DePree (1992);
Tichy (1998)
Leadership as a DePree (1992);
Leadership represents integration between
external and internal partnerships. Drucker
highlights three components of that integration:
financial, performance and personal. He believes
leaders are responsible for performance of their
organizations and for the community as a whole.
Leaders fill roles and passess special
characteristics. According to Kotter, leaders
communicate vision and direction, align people,
motivate, inspire, and energize followers. In
addition, leaders are change agents and
empowerers of their people. Leadership is the
process of giving purpose (meaningful direction)
to collective effort, and causing willing effort to
be expended to achieve purpose. Further,
effective managerial leadership spawns effective
managerial work. These authors favor requisite
leadership that is dependent upon time and
place, and the individual and situations.
Ulrich et al. propose a leadership brand which
“describes the distinct results leaders deliver”
and links results with character. Leaders passess
moral character, integrity and energy, in addition
to technical knowledge and strategic thinking.
Moreover, leaders demonstrate effective
behaviors that further organizational success.
Furthermore, since leadership results are
measurable, they also may be taught and
learned. In what they call the Evergreen Project,
Nohria, et al., examine more than 200
management practices over ten-year period to
determine which produce truly superior result.
The four primary practices are strategy,
execution, culture and structure. Companies
with superior results also embrace two of the
following four secondary practices; talent,
innovation, leadership and mergers and
acquisitions.
Leaders are teacher. Leaders establish the
“teachable point of view.” Leadership is about
motivating others by teaching stories. Tichy
contends that effective leadership equates with
effective teaching.
Leadership is convert in the sense that leaders
Performing Art Mintzberg (1998); do not outwardly perform leadership actions
Vaill (1989) (e.g. motivating, coaching, etc) but perform
unobtrusive actions that encompass all the
things a leader or manager does. A common
metaphor for leadership as a performing art are
orchestra conductors and jazz ensembles.

Cultural and Holistic Fairholm (1994); Leadership is the ability to step outside the
Leadership Senge (1990); culture to start evolutionary change processes
Schein (1992); that are more adaptive. Leadership is the ability
Wheatley (1992) to include important stakeholders, evoke
followership and empower others. Wheatley’s
holistic approach assumes that leadership is
contextual and systemic. Leaders create
synergistic relationships between individuals,
organizations, and the environment. Leaders
promote learning organizations trough
adherence to the five disciplines. According to
Senge, leaders play three roles: designers,
stewards and teachers.

Servant Leadership Greenleaf (1996); Servant leadership implies that leaders primarily
Spears & Frick (1992) lead by serving others-employees, customers
and community. Characteristics of a servant
leader include listening, empathy, healing,
awareness, persuasion, conceptualization,
foresight, stewardship, commitment to other
growth, and community building.

Spiritual leadership DePree (1989); Leadership involves influencing people’s souls

Etzioni (1993); rather than controlling action. Fairholm believes
Fairholm (1997); that leadership involves connecting with others.
Greenleaf (1977); Furthermore, “as leaders commit to the core of
Hawley (1993); the whole person, they must include spiritual
Keifer (1992); care into their practice. Leaders in the new
J. Maxwell; Vaill (1989) century must consider and actively engage in
making for themselves and then helping their
followers make these connections”. A leader’s
influence stems from his or her knowledge of the
organizational culture, customs, values and
traditions.