Leadership: the complexities and state of the field

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance contemporary cognisance of the leadership field and its current state, through the synthesis and development of earlier contributions. A taxonomy of evolutionary eras is tendered, from which future research opportunities can be extrapolated.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducts a narrative literature review of significant leadership literature. There is a focus on prominent contributions which are considered to have been highly influential within the field, while acknowledging other notable influences.

Findings

Leadership is found to be a multifaceted and evolving field, which continues to produce further research fields. This dynamism hinders the progression of leadership to achieve integration. Eleven interrelated eras of leadership, which hold varying research value, were found. While some eras superficially appear to be discredited, there is arguably scope for these to be developed in contemporary context. Currently, the leadership approaches which are replete with research opportunities include servant leadership, a skills approach and an entrepreneurial leadership.

Research limitations/implications

Leadership is a vast research area with numerous contributions to its body of work; therefore, this review has focused on prominent contributions and has not attempted to include all available literature. The dissemination of leadership literature has allowed for research gaps to emerge and future research recommendations to be drawn.

Originality/value

While there is an extensive body of leadership literature, there are few reviews of the literature. A comprehensive contemporary review facilitates an examination of the current complexities and state of the leadership field.

Citation

Clark, C.M. and Harrison, C. (2018), "Leadership: the complexities and state of the field", European Business Review, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 514-528. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-07-2017-0139