Cross-Cultural Leadership Studies

CHAPTER 1

History and Evolution of Leadership Studies

Introduction

The time span of interest in “leadership” has been aptly summarized by Bass, who observed that

…[t]he study of leadership rivals in age the emergence of civilization, which shaped its leaders as much as it shaped them. From its infancy, the study of history has been the study of leaders—what they did and why they did it.¹

In general, leadership studies have taken on a multidisciplinary flavor and one can find elements of theory and methodology borrowed from the social sciences, philosophy, psychology, and business administration. Leadership and management studies have often been combined and were originally studied and taught within schools of administration at universities and ...