ABSTRACT
In the late 1940s the study of leadership in organizations shifted its emphasis away from the study of the ‘traits’ of leaders towards their ‘style’ or behaviour. Leadership style and behaviour are usually treated as synonyms, both pointing to what leaders do. At least three factors seem to have contributed to this change of emphasis. The chief one is undoubtedly the lack of consistent findings which Jenkins (1947), Stogdill (1948) and others had identified. As Shartle (1957, p. 1) and Fleishman (1973), both of whom are associated with the style approach, have observed there was a strong feeling that the emphasis upon traits had reached an impasse. Consequently there was a
shift in emphasis during that period from thinking about leadership in terms of traits that someone ‘has’ to the conceptualization of leadership as a form of activity that certain individuals may engage in. (Fleishman, 1973, p.3)
