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The purpose of this book is broad: the author sought to define leadership and to understand its practice through an exploration of the vast and diverse groupings of theories on leadership. Each chapter examines a leadership theory, offers a critique, and provides readers with multiple case studies to apply theories to real-world examples. This approach builds on Northouse’s claim that leadership is a complex and multidimensional process. In the introduction, Northouse outlines how the definition of leadership has evolved over the past 100 years. He uses this history to build toward his definition of leadership: “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 5). By mapping the evolution of leadership theory, the organization of the text comes into focus: as leadership theory continues to evolve, so does the definition of leadership.
After the introduction, each subsequent chapter covers one leadership theory. Chapters 2 through 4 provide a broad overview of individual leadership definition of theories by covering traits, skills, and behavior approaches. Chapters 5 through 7 expand the definition of leadership through examination of group theories; these chapters cover the situational approach, path– goal, and leader–member exchange theories. Chapters 8 through 11 the author investigates organizational behavior leadership theories by highlighting the transformational, authentic, servant, and adaptive...