Philosophical Perspectives on Technology Leadership

Leadership

Leadership is a ubiquitous topic, not only in popular press, but in academic research. The study of leadership as an organized social-scientific endeavor emerged in the early 1930s (House & Aditya, 1997). Bass and Bass (2008) argue that there are numerous definitions of leadership that have often obscured the line between leadership and other positions or processes. The many dimensions into which leadership has been cast and the overlapping meanings offered in the literature have “added to the confusion” (Bass & Bass, 2008, p.15). Each new decade has generated different views of leadership from “inducing obedience,” to moving the organization in a specific direction, to the art of persuading, influencing, or “inspiring others” (p.15). Although there are several definitions of leadership, in reviewing the theoretical foundations of leadership research, it is apparent that consistent threads have emerged.