An Ecological Perspective on Leadership Theory, Research, and Practice

Abstract

Current theories of leadership are based mainly on the industrial paradigm emphasizing the preeminence of positional leaders and the machine-like qualities of organizations. Evolutionary and attributional biases tend to reinforce the industrial paradigm. The authors propose an ecological theory of leadership that makes 4 important assertions: (a) Effective leadership processes involve temporary resolutions of a tension between the traditional industrial approach and the neglected ecological approach; (b) specific leaders are less important than they appear because the ecological context is more important than what leaders decide to do; (c) organizations are more adaptive when there is a diversity of genuine input into decision-making processes; and (d) leadership itself is an emergent process arising from the human interactions that make up the organization. Open Systems and Feedback Loops Any organization is completely dependent on inflows of material, information, and other resources. These organizational systems are, themselves, part of larger open systems (economic, political, social, and environmental). Treating organizations as closed systems does not reflect the human enterprise that is the organization (Katz & Kahn, 1978). Furthermore,

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