Challenges, Theories, and a Framework for Future Research
Ambiguity and Frustration
Leadership is a messy activity, often fraught with ambiguity and frustration. Choosing the “right” path can be difficult. And, for many situations, there is no obvious “right” path. Have you ever read a leadership book or blog post that proposed you could solve all your leadership problems by doing these five or ten steps? Did it work? Probably not if you are reading this post. “There are thousands of books on leadership and even more articles and blog posts. Unfortunately, some of the advice is nonsense made up to “fill” blog posts so the authors can increase their authority on the topic in the eyes of their online followers” (Latham, 2014, p. 12). Yes, I am aware of the irony. 🙂 While the advice might not necessarily be bad, it is most likely incomplete and based on an unstated definition of “success.” It is the latter that is more dangerous.
What Does Success Look Like?
What does success look like, and who determines if leadership is successful? Suppose you have read anything that I have put forth recently on leadership. In that case, you already know that I propose that success is determined by the value created for the organization’s multiple stakeholders, including investors, customers, the workforce, suppliers and partners, the community, and the natural environment. Unfortunately, “all too often people evaluate and ‘hold up’ leaders as successful examples based on a single measure of success such as economic profit. When they peel back the ‘veil,’ they often find that the leader created the economic success at the expense of one or more other stakeholders” (Latham, 2014, p. 13).
Importance of Context
How many times have you read conflicting advice? One leadership “pundit,” says you need to focus to get things done. Duh. Another says you should reduce focus to facilitate creative thinking. Ok. Both are good advice and, at the same time, bad advice. It might depend on the context – particular situation, activity, and purpose. Some leadership theories and models explicitly include one or more aspects of context, such as Situational Leadership, which focuses on follower motivation and competency. However, few, if any, adequately address all the contextual factors. Unfortunately, we know little about which aspects of leadership are context-dependent, to what extent they are context-dependent, and how they are context-dependent. Some evidence suggests that some universal leadership behaviors “tap” into deeper human needs common to the species (Zimmerer, 2013). However, more research is needed.
Time for Convergence?
Academic researchers, in their attempts to contribute, have put forth numerous narrow leadership theories but seldom get rid of any of the old theories. This proliferation of leadership theories over the last 50+ years has resulted in a messy landscape of overlapping, complementary, and competing concepts and perspectives. What is needed is a synthesis of theories based on three key leadership dimensions: the individual leader characteristics (who leaders are), the leadership activities (what leaders do), and the leadership style or behaviors (how leaders do it). These three dimensions combine to influence the organizational systems, culture, and individual followers, creating results or value for multiple stakeholders. See my latest Perspective paper for a more complete discussion of the challenges, theories, and framework for future leadership research (Latham, 2014).
Research Agenda
In Latham (2014), I call for leadership scholars to collaborate with practitioners and begin working toward a leadership theory that builds on the Leading Transformation Framework and identifies the combination of individual leadership characteristics, leadership behaviors, and leadership activities that will create an environment for quality and innovation and, in turn, result in value for multiple stakeholders. This is no small challenge, and there is a lot of work to be done which is why only the brave need apply. “Those who take up this challenge may want to study Emerson’s 1837 address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge titled “‘The American Scholar’ and take to heart his notion, ‘free should the scholar be, free and brave’” (Latham, 2014, p. 14). | Download Article
References
Emerson, R. W. (1837). The American scholar. In The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, centenary edition, ed. E. W. Emerson, 8115. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Latham, J. R. (2014). Leadership for quality and innovation: Challenge, theories, and a framework for future research. Quality Management Journal, 21(1), 5.
Zimmerer, T. E. (2013). Generational perceptions of servant leadership: A mixed-methods study. (Doctoral dissertation), Capella University, Minneapolis, MN.
