Lessons from Leadership Theory and the Contemporary Challenges of Leaders

Abstract

Leadership theories and the academic literature can sometimes seem difficult for practitioners to understand because of complex conceptualizations, obscure terms, and its enormousness. Yet taken as a whole, the literature makes a great deal of sense and has much to offer. Indeed, the truths are often quite simple, elegant, and straightforward. The purpose of this article is to review the major findings of the organizational leadership literature and to identify the important overarching insights, specifically those of particular importance to today's leaders in administrative positions in the public sector, where an evolving context constantly reconfigures age‐old challenges.

Does transformational leadership build resilient public and nonprofit organizations?

“…Transformational leadership can be conceptualized as the process by which leaders bring about organizational change by raising the level of motivation of followers (Northouse, 2010;Van Wart, 2013). Such a leadership style can be observed through four distinct but interrelated dimensions: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass and Avolio, 1994).…”

Communicating the Vision: How Face‐to‐Face Dialogue Facilitates Transformational Leadership

“…While our approach emphasizes transformational leadership, this does not imply a conflict with a transactional approach. The two approaches can be complementary (Bass ; Trottier, Van Wart, and Wang ; Van Wart ). For example, Oberfield's () examination of the full range theory using a longitudinal model finds that both categories of leadership, separately and together, predict perceived work quality, employee satisfaction, and cooperation.…”

“…It is easy to doubt the commitment of a faraway leader if the only communication of their vision is generic formal statements. Authenticity requires relational transparency (Banks et al ), that is, a leader that openly shares information and feelings “as appropriate for situations” (Avolio, Walumbwa, and Weber , 424): “Authentic leaders control their ego drives and defensiveness, thereby encouraging openness, feedback, and effective communication” (Van Wart , 560). Face‐to‐face dialogue gives the sender a chance to establish a genuine commitment to the message, and the receiver a chance to receive and review these commitments.…”

Organizational Challenges of Community Associations

“…(Keleman and Bansai, 2002;Milofsky, 2000;Van de Ven, 2007). In this tradition, the researcher does not stand as an observer who is totally detached from the world of practice, but stands alongside practitioners in the search for knowledge and understanding of practical situations, events and problems; adhering to the usual rules of systematic scholarly enquiry while also consulting with practitioners about emerging findings (Cairns et al, 2007;Nyden and Wiewel, 1992).…”