Shelton, L. J. (2013). Student development theory series: Leadership development. The Bulletin, 81 (3), 12-16.
“The study of leadership spans many disciplines and has various definitions that have evolved over time. Early ideas surrounding leadership considered individuals holding positions of power to be leaders who were born to fill these authoritative roles. Scholars often categorize this as the preindustrial definition of leadership, while postindustrial ideas shifted to management-type views regarding the behavior and style of leaders who direct followers to achieve specific results. The next main shift in thinking about leadership occurred in the 1970s, concerning the idea of leaders and followers holding more mutual relationships resulting in nurturing followers to also become leaders. As leadership studies shifted away from hierarchical relationships, the early 1990s furthered the focus on collaborations, networks, and the process of achieving goals in teamwork-oriented groups. This focus on the process of collaboration was in contrast to previously held traditional ideas surrounding top-down leadership, and instead emphasized leaders and followers acting together to facilitate a group’s success. Around this time, leadership educators began emphasizing the need for college students to be exposed to various leadership approaches so they may develop their own leadership identities. Scholarship on college student leadership identity development is still an important part of higher education today as this information continues to evolve and have a positive influence on helping cultivate students’ leadership identities” (p. 12).
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