Generations of Leadership. Historical Significance.

Generations of Leadership
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Introduction
Leadership is not only considered a multifaceted concept but also a complex concept that has critical relevance to both psychological and organizational research. Although scientific research on leadership began in the 20th century, the existence of the term can be traced back to the late 1700s (Rikowski, 2005). This paper examines the historical foundations and evolution of various approaches related to leadership. More specifically, this piece of writing focuses on the leadership approach of influence which was widely practiced between the mid-1920s and 1977. One of the key elements of influence is the art of persuasion. Most of the leaders in the influence era learned the art of persuading their followers by sharing their passion and values. Another important feature of influence is the leader’s ability to inspire commitment (Rikowski, 2005). The impression of collaboration and transparency from a leader creates trust and a sense of "we-ness" making the followers committed to achieving set goals. More importantly, influential leaders are required to cede control, but without micromanaging. Strategic control was considered another vital element of influence among the leaders who existed between the mid-1920s and 1977 (Rikowski, 2005). However, this feature has been subject to criticism for making the leadership approach of influence ineffective due to its association with autocratic characteristics.
Historical Significance
The influence era of leadership can be dated back to the mid-1920s. The actual practice of influence was evident during the 1950s. The leadership approach of influence originated from the concepts of persuasiveness and the power of relations advanced from the dictatorial model. The work of Kurt Lewin and his colleagues in 1939, Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates, provided the foundations for advancing the influence era. Lewin proposed the use of the autocratic model in leading organizations (Rikowski, 2005). The corporate leader was not expected to consult the followers in making all the decisions. In 1967, Dr Rensis Likert influenced leaders to adopt benevolent authoritative and exploitative authoritative styles of leadership. The former is concerned with the team members and advocates for their rewarding but the leader remains the ultimate decision-maker. In 1976, Max Weber proposed the need for leaders to develop a strong desire to influence their followers (Rikowski, 2005).
The influence approach was mostly applied by leaders in the field of politics to advance their ideologies and control their followers. However, it is important to note that most of the influential leaders who existed between the mid-1920s and 1977 capitalized more on persuasion than power relations due to the ineffective nature of the latter (Rikowski, 2005). President Warren Harding used his influence and ability to persuade his delegates in the administration to advance foreign and domestic policies after taking over the presidential role in 1920. Harding was the first president in the country's history to initiate and execute sound budgetary practices, an achievement attributed to his persuasive ability. Titans in the arenas of the overall economy and industry such as Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and John Rockefeller used influence approach to inspire America's economic growth in the 1920s and 1930s and ushered the country into the world stage in 1917.
The scholarly works on the subject of leadership played a critical part in ushering in the influence era. According to Murty (2019), the glory and philosophy of leadership have been successfully transmitted from one gener...