Models and Theories of Executive Leadership: A Conceptual/Empirical Review and Integration.

Abstract : Executive leadership has been a long-standing concern of the U.S. Army. However, prior to 1980, much of the military research focused on generic dimensions of leadership or were specifically concerned with leadership at lower grades. Accordingly, in the early 1980s, the Army recognized a need for greater and more focused research on the nature of leadership at the brigade command level and higher. This interest parallels the increasing focus on top organizational leadership in the nonmilitary literature. As a consequence of this increased attention and interest, the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) started a program of research, under the direction of T. Owen Jacobs, that focused on the nature and determinants of effective military executive leadership. The mission of this research was to develop and test concept materials for doctrine development at the executive level, formulate an executive development system, and formulate and test methodology for restructuring Army organizations to achieve gains in productivity, effectiveness, and esprit.