A Vertical Dyad Linkage Approach to Leadership within Formal Organizations A Longitudinal Investigation of the'l~ole Making Process 1 (original) (raw)

The use of an alternative to the research strategies employed for the past 20 yrs and more to investigate leadership produced results which question the traditional models and open new avenues for empirical exploration. Approaching leadership as an exchange relationship which develops within the vertical dyad over time during role making activities, this longitudinal study found that the degree of latitude that a superior granted to a member to negotiate his role was predictive of subsequent behavior on the part of both superior and member. Contrary to traditional views of leadership, superiors typically employed both leadership and supervision techniques within their units. With a select subset of their members, superiors developed leadership exchanges (influence without authority), and with others, superiors developed only supervision relationships (influence based primarily upon authority). Some of the many implications of these findings are discussod.