Leadership and Organizational Change : A Special Issue of the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology

The eighties and nineties have witnessed a renewed interest in the phenomenon of leadership. The genre of the biography seems to be at its peak of popularity, and often has business leaders as the leading actors. In an era where the media play such a dominating role it is perhaps not surprising that business leaders become more and more visible. This heightened attention should at least partly be interpreted against the background of increased turbulence in society. Internalization processes have transformed the world into a "global village". Uncertainty has become a constant as organizations are continuously reshaping themselves while merging and delayering. Careers have become much less predictable and people's loyalties are increasingly attached to (short-term) projects, rather than organizations. Theories are formulated about the leadership qualities needed in times of organizational change. New concepts have been introduced that relate leadership to motivating people, formulating, co-developing andcommunicating appealing visions and effecting change, for instance transformational leadership, visionary leadership, and inspirational leadership. The purpose of this special issue onLeadership and Organizational Changeis to sketch several current and new developments in research relevant to this theme. The contributing authors provide an overview of research done on the concepts of transformational leadership, while focusing on conceptual, methodological and measurement problems. The effectiveness of various leadership styles is assessed, placing the concept against the background of changing organizations and changing environments.