In 1948 Stogdill published a review of findings in studies employing trait
approaches and concluded that “It becomes clear that an adequate analysis of
leadership involves not only a study of leaders, but also of situations” (1948: 64-
65). More recently Vroom and Jago (2007: 18) (who refer to these approaches as
‘heroic conceptions’ of leadership) wrote “...early research on leadership was
based on an assumption that has been largely discredited”
By the 1950s, leadership studies research began move away from the focus
primarily on leader traits (based on the premise that leadership is innate) towards
a perspective which posited that leadership could be observed in leaders’
behaviours. One aspect of this approach was the notion that, if specific
behaviours differentiated leaders from non-leaders, then it may be possible for
these behaviours to be taught.
2.3.2 Behavioural theories
The behaviour approach focuses on what managers and leaders actually do in the
workplace and how their behaviour relates to managerial effectiveness (Yukl
1989: 257). The behavioural paradigm was initially based on the premise that it
would be possible to observe (either in experimental settings or through surveys
of subordinates) universally effective leader behaviours (House and Aditya 1997:
421).
Enduring themes: Initiating Structure and Consideration
Underpinning much of the theory informing post 1960s leadership research has
been the distinction between task- and relations-oriented leadership. This
dichotomy was initially developed by researchers at the University of Michigan
(Katz et al. 1950; Katz et al. 1951) and subsequently strengthened by
researchers at the Ohio State University (Stogdill and Coons 1957). These
studies were based on behavioural-based approaches to leadership.
The Michigan research sought to identify relationships among a variety of leader /
work-group processes and performance measures. Three categories of leadership
behaviour were resolved: (i) task-orientated/production-centred behaviour
(supervisors emphasise technical- and performance-related employee attributes