porary organizations (Bywaters, 1991, pp. 7 8). A modern approach to leadership that is appropriate for contemporary and future organizations is transformational leadership. Transformational leaders imbue those individuals whom they lead with the goals of the organization of which they are a part, and with the significance of those goals within a societal context (Chrunden and Sherman, 1989, p. 39). These leaders also inspire organizational subordinates to transcend self interest, in order to assure the success of the organization.
While organizational theorists have preached the need for some form of participative management or non authoritarian
leadership style as opposed to an authoritarian style in modern organizations, many American organizations continue to rely (some more successfully than others) on authoritarian leadership practices. Thus, after three decades or more of intensive theorizing as to the desirability of some form of participative or relational management and leadership, there still appears to be no incontrovertible proof that such styles of leadership or management will be universally accepted.
Leadership styles will vary between the extremes of task and relationships orientations, between authoritarian leadership and participative management, and between directive leadership and management by objectives, to state but a few distinctions (Luthans, 1994, p. 377). The leader who is completely task oriented will likely make decisions that are geared to "getting the job done," regardless of the socio psychological effect such decisions may have on the individual members of an organization. Conversely, the leader who is completely relationships oriented will likely make decisions which, while they avoid organizational conflict development, will often immobilize the organization from an economic perspective. The most successful leaders give consideration to both economic and social factors in decision m...