Literature Review: 21st Century Leadership Evaluation and Analysis

This literature review examines 21st-century leadership, analyzing key issues and changes in leadership theories. It explores the shift from traditional 'Great Man' theories to behavioral and transformational approaches, discussing the challenges leaders face, including engaging employees, meeting investor expectations, and implementing organizational changes. The review highlights factors driving change, such as technological advancements and evolving employee expectations, and identifies core competencies for effective leadership, including strategic vision, communication, and the ability to motivate employees. The paper contrasts transactional and transformational leadership styles, emphasizing the importance of adapting to a globalized market and the need for leaders to foster employee growth and achieve multiple goals, including shareholder value and client satisfaction.

Literature Review
21st Century Leadership: Evaluation and Analysis of key issues in relation to leadership

Introduction
The onset of 21st century has brought varying level of challenges to the leaders across the
organizations. The current paper looks into the 21st century leadership and evaluates and
analyses the key issues in relation to the leadership (Thomson, 2013). The market has rapidly
globalised due to the improved accessibility of the technological elements. This has increased
the responsibilities of the leaders from managing the mass markets to the efficient usage of
knowledge base and intelligent human resource. Earlier, the game of leadership used to be the
one man show with few at the top of the organization (Green, 2017). However, now the
dynamics has changed and the collective effort of the entire organization is needed in the
areas of the decision making. All the resources within the organization have the ability to
bring something of importance to the table (Jaques, 2017).
The need for flexibility within the organizations has increased which calls for different set of
skills for their management (Butler, 2016). The term innovation and creativity has become
the need of the hour for every organization that is willing to survive the ever changing market
dynamics (O’Connell, 2014). However, in this environment, it is important that the leaders do
not miss the strategic focus and take the management effectively (Hanna and Latchen, 2013).
In the second chapter of the paper, various leadership theories are compared and contrasted to
understand the possible changes. In the third chapter, the challenges that are faced by the 21st
century leaders are discussed. In the fourth chapter, the factors of change are discussed. In the
fifth chapter, the necessary core competencies of the leadership have been discussed in
relation to the 21st century requirements. This has chapter is followed by conclusion based on
overall study.

Changes in Leadership Theories
There are various leadership theories that have tried to explain the leadership, beginning from
“Great Man” theories to transactional and transformational theories (Amanchukwu et al,
2015). It has been found that the theories from earlier times were more focused towards
characteristics of the leaders and their different behaviours. However, the theories at the later
stage moved their focus towards followers and considered context based theories (Daft.
2014).
One of the leadership theories is the Trait Approach. It has come up from the Great Man
theory (Walter and Scheibe, 2013). The understanding the theory was that with the help of
this the individuals with particular set of traits can be hired and trained for the various
leadership positions within the organizations (Dinh et al, 2014). However, later it was found
that the number of traits identified were almost equal to the number of studies undertaken.
There were no particular set of traits which could be identified for the selection of the right
leaders. It was found that few set of traits of repetitive in all the studies, but overall, it was not
completely a conclusive list. In 1974, Stogdill found almost 12 traits and 9 skills that were
considered important for a leader (as cited in, Einarsen et al, 2016).
Another is behavioural theories which cover McGregor’s X and Y Theory, and Blake and
Mouton’s Managerial Grid. Though McGregor’s theory cannot be entirely attributed as a
leadership theory, yet it can be stated that leaders who act on Theory X will be more of
autocratic and that of Theory Y will be participative (Aithal and Kumar, 2016). However, it
clear that not one style can be enough as an organization can have human resources with
various characteristics (Mohamed et al, 2013). On the other hand, the theory of Blake and
Mouton considers production and people as the factor. Blake and Mouton has suggested that

the leaders should be able to focus on effective management of the employees as well as the
output (Gregoire and Arendt, 2014).
The studies have found that the leadership has mostly been oriented towards the male. The
researchers have found that there always been the gender differences in the leadership (Schuh
et al, 2014). The sex-stereotyping and considering other gender as less capable has been
found in some instances. However, the findings in relation to the gender differences and
leadership styles are confusing (Grijalva et al, 2015). Few researchers have strongly asserted
that there exist differences in the leadership styles (Smith and Bejou, 2015). However, there
are some who holds contradictory point of view (Tomal & Jones, 2015). As per Schein
(1989), there are some difference among men and women. However, Schien states that the
differences are less significant. The differences within the sex have been found to be higher
than between both the sex.
Later, James McGregor came up with the transformational leadership theory. As per James,
these leaders focus on converting the followers into the future leaders and instilling the moral
aspects into the current leaders (as cited in Goethals and Allison, 2016). As per McGregor,
transformational leaders focus on mutual growth. The factors such as values, purpose, and
goals are brought into the picture while taking the entire organization ahead. As per Covey,
the transactional leadership is different from the transformational leadership in many ways
(Covey et al, 2017). Transactional leadership has more of traditional orientation (Odumeru
and Ogbonna, 2013). It focuses more on getting things done from people using power,
position, shot-term need, tactics, and role expectation. On the other hand, transformational
leadership provides meaning to the individual’s need, gives purpose and values, and moves
towards long term missions and strategies. Here, it can be stated both the orientation is
necessary to manage the organization. However, transformational leadership is gradually
becoming important considering the changing global situation.

Challenges Facing 21st Century Leaders
The researchers have found that the leaders in the 21st century face many challenges. Fineman
(1997) and Higgs and Rowland (2001) have found that the values of the society has changed
drastically in the past 50 years (as cited in Sebrant, 2014). Williams (2014) asserts that now
the leaders are required to focus more on engaging the employees rather than just providing
wages. It is the need of the hour that the employees within the organizations are engaged
towards their work. Their level of engagement is important for their commitment. Another
challenge is the changes in the orientation of the investors (Bush, 2013). Now the success of
the Chief Executive Officer of an organization is more linked towards the value generated by
him or her for the shareholders (Wiengarten et al, 2017). This has become an obsession and
delivering at that level is a necessity. If the past few decades are considered, then Ulrich
(1999) states that the period between 1960 and 1990 witnessed linkage of the market
capitalization with the revenue generated by the business (as cited in Sen and Haque, 2016).
If the earnings of the organizations were good, then it was expected that things are moving
appreciably well. However, in the 21st century, the relation between the earning and the
market capitalization has reduced. Now, the investors look for the leadership within the
organization (Male and Palaiologou, 2015). The quality of the leader heading the
organization has become an element of importance. This requires that the leadership stands as
per the perception and expectation of the shareholders. Now the success and failure of an
organization is directly associated with the leader heading the organization.
Another challenge is the implementation of the changes within the organization. The market
has grown volatile and complex in comparison to few decades earlier. The organization, at
present, wants continued updates in the strategies, processes. It has become important that the
structural aspects of the organization are changed continuously so that the competition can be
responded accordingly (Stafford et al, 2015). Few researchers are of the view that the rate

with which the market dynamics are changing, the aspects of changes within the organization
will become core to the decision making (Austin and Hessel, 2014). However, it has been
identified that the ability of the organization to adoption is limited. Kotter found that the near
to 70% of the change efforts fail to hit the ground completely (as cited in Hornstein, 2015).
Thus, Munro and Capellino (2016) assert that there is a need of strong leadership within the
organization that can drive the expected change to meet the expectation.
Another challenging aspect is the increasing level of stress on the employees of the
organization. The increased volatility and complexity in the environment have gradually
increased the pressure on the employees to improve their performance every other day and
give results as per the expectation of the organization (Arroliga et al, 2014). It has been found
that the employees face fear of losing job, stress to learn new things in the shorter period of
time, and others (Schleicher, 2015). The researches have clearly identified that the increased
pressure at work is directly associated with the increase of stress experienced by the
employees. However, there are some contradictory viewpoint which asserts that the not the
pressure, but the behaviours of the organizational leaders impact the level of the stress on the
employees (Renzulli and D’Souza, 2014). Here, it can be stated that the need for a leadership
that can reflect good behaviour is necessary to reduce the stress and improve the work
condition for the employees.
Factors of Change for 21st Century Leadership
The turn of 21st century has changed the way things were being handled in the past. The
researchers have identified that the methods that were successful in the past are no longer
effective enough to drive the organization as per the expectation (Arroliga et al, 2014). It has
been found that the employees expect more than salary from the organization. The salary as a
single factor for motivation and pushing the productivity has changed (O’Connell, 2014). The

factors such as the recognition of good work, information sharing, participation in the
decision, and others have assumed the roles in improving the employee productivity (Frankel
and PGCMS, 2017). The changes in the orientation among the employees towards the
organizations in terms of increased expectation require that the leadership take right decisions
to retain them (Green, 2016).
The 21st Century leadership requires orientation towards handling the unique challenges and
the opportunities that are hitting the horizon every other day (Ayub et al, 2014). The pace in
the technological advancements has opened new opportunities and changes in the way
products were marketed and the customers were acquired (Beethan and Sharpe, 2013). The
present scenario requires that the employees are equally engaged with their activities as their
leaders (Bellanca, 2014). The collective engagement at all the levels is imperative for the
success of the organization.
Core Competencies for Leadership
In the 21st century, it is important that the leaders should be able to use their strategic vision
to increase the motivational level of the employees within the organization (Thomson, 2013).
The presence of strategic vision with an organization allows the leaders to build the future of
a vision on predefined framework instead of hunting less important actions that have limited
relevance to the organizational success (Green, 2017). The researchers have identified that
keeping the strategic visions of the company confined to select few within the organization
has limited effect on the progress. In the 21st century, the inclusion of all the employees
within the company has become a necessity (Jaques, 2017; Butler, 2016). The leadership
should be able to effectively communicate the vision to the employees in a manner that it can
motivate them to perform appreciably well. It is imperative to ensure that the employees
agree to adopt and learn complex things for the success of the organization, which in turn can

be possible with an appropriate vision for the organization. The employees should be able to
identify themselves with the vision (O’Connell, 2014). The leader should be able to build
effective strategic vision that achieves multiple goals such as employee growth and welfare,
shareholder value achievement, and client satisfaction.
The leaders should be able to empower the employees of all levels. The reduction in the
favouritism within the organization and paving path to accommodate all the employees on the
positive assessment metrics are likely to improve the collaboration and efficiency (Hanna and
Latchem, 2013; Amanchukwu et al, 2015). The effective leaders are those who are able to
bring together each of the players and get things done. The researchers have identified that
instead of power brokering and controlling the resources, the leaders should consider
themselves as flexible enough to assume various positions such as coaching the employees,
providing necessary information, making decisions, and supporting and listening to the
employees (Daft et al, 2014). The leaders should enable the employees to be self-sufficient
through right empowerment.
The importance of information sharing has increased more than ever before. The appropriate
dissemination of information throughout the organization is important to ensure that all the
employees are on the same page and working towards the betterment of the organization
(Male and Palaiologou, 2015). Apart from the information, the knowledge within the
organization is required to be accumulated, and analysed periodically. The leaders should
ensure that the organization has the repository of knowledge which is easily accessible by all
the individuals within the organization (Staffard et al, 2015; Austin and Hessel, 2014). This
will facilitate learning which will eventually convert into growing organization. The leaders
should be able to pave path for the unrestricted sharing of ideas and information. Moreover,
the researchers suggest that the leaders should be able to tap into the informal channels of
communication (Arroliga et al, 2014; Renzuli and D’Souza, 2014). The formal

communication channels within the organization keep the leaders out of the loop. Therefore,
to ensure that the leaders have access to the true feedback and orientation of entire workforce,
tapping into the informal communication system is suggested.
Conclusion
Overall, it can be stated that the leadership requirement has evolved to a greater extent in the
21st century. The contemporary perspective requires that the leaders should be involved with
the employees to a greater level. The leadership theories that were considered as extremely
effective in the earlier times are less fruitful in the current situation. The theory such as
transformational leadership is being considered as the need of the hour. The employees
within the organization are looking for the leaders who can be the guide and help them
envision the future with which they can resonate. Moreover, it is expected that the leaders
will take all the necessary steps to increase the improvements of the leaders. The study has
helped understand the market situation has become volatile and it has become a necessity that
the along with the leader, the entire organization adapts to the changes. This requires strong
leadership.

References
Aithal, P.S. and Kumar, P.M., 2016. Comparative Analysis of Theory X, Theory Y, Theory
Z, and Theory A for Managing People and Performance.
Amanchukwu, R.N., Stanley, G.J. and Ololube, N.P., 2015. A review of leadership theories,
principles and styles and their relevance to educational management. Management, 5(1),
pp.6-14.
Arroliga, A.C., Huber, C., Myers, J.D., Dieckert, J.P. and Wesson, D., 2014. Leadership in
health care for the 21st century: challenges and opportunities. The American journal of
medicine, 127(3), pp.246-249.
Arroliga, A.C., Huber, C., Myers, J.D., Dieckert, J.P. and Wesson, D., 2014. Leadership in
health care for the 21st century: challenges and opportunities. The American journal of
medicine, 127(3), pp.246-249.
Austin, R.D. and Hessel, S., 2014. Advancing relevance and rigor in 21st Century leadership
pedagogy through a “blended learning” experiment. In The 13th International Studying
Leadership Conference. ISLC 2014.
Ayub, S.H., Manaf, N.A. and Hamzah, M.R., 2014. Leadership: Communicating strategically
in the 21st century. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 155, pp.502-506.
Beetham, H. and Sharpe, R. eds., 2013. Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age: Designing for
21st century learning. Routledge.
Bellanca, J.A. ed., 2014. Deeper learning: Beyond 21st century skills. Solution Tree Press.
Bush, T., 2013. Distributed Leadership The Model of Choice in the 21st Century. Vancouver

Butler, S., 2016. Understanding White Culture as a 21st Century Leadership Skill.
Covey, J., Pascale, A., Miller, E. and Ohlson, M., 2017. Leading Students and Teachers
Away from Adversity and Towards Success.
Daft, R.L., 2014. The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.
Dinh, J.E., Lord, R.G., Gardner, W.L., Meuser, J.D., Liden, R.C. and Hu, J., 2014.
Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and
changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp.36-62.
Einarsen, S., Aasland, M.S. and Skogstad, A., 2016. the nature and outcomes of destructive
leadership behavior in Organizations. Risky Business: Psychological, Physical and Financial
Costs of High Risk Behavior in Organizations, p.323.
Frankel, A. and PGCMS, R., 2017. What leadership styles should senior nurses
develop?. Heart failure, 12, p.40.
Goethals, G.R. and Allison, S.T., 2016. Transforming motives and mentors: The heroic
leadership of James MacGregor Burns. Unpublished manuscript, University of Richmond.
Green, R.L., 2016. Practicing the Art of Leadership: A Problem-Based Approach to
Implementing the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. Pearson.
Green, R.L., 2017. The four dimensions of principal leadership: A framework for leading
21st century schools. Pearson.
Gregoire, M.B. and Arendt, S.W., 2014. Leadership: Reflections over the past 100
years. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 114(5), pp.S10-S19.

Grijalva, E., Newman, D.A., Tay, L., Donnellan, M.B., Harms, P.D., Robins, R.W. and Yan,
T., 2015. Gender differences in narcissism: A meta-analytic review. Psychological
bulletin, 141(2), p.261.
Hanna, D. and Latchem, C., 2013. Leadership for 21st Century Learning: Global
Perspectives from International Experts. Routledge.
Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2),
pp.291-298.
Jaques, E., 2017. Requisite organization: A total system for effective managerial organization
and managerial leadership for the 21st century. Routledge.
Male, T. and Palaiologou, I., 2015. Pedagogical leadership in the 21st century: Evidence from
the field. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 43(2), pp.214-231.
Mohamed, R.K.M.H. and Nor, C.S.M., 2013. The relationship between McGregor's XY
theory management style and fulfillment of psychological contract: A literature
review. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(5),
p.715.
Munro, A. and Capellino, T., 2016, March. 21st Century Leadership Round Table
Discussion. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International
Conference (pp. 1234-1234). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
(AACE).
Northouse, P.G., 2015. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

O'Connell, P.K., 2014. A simplified framework for 21st century leader development. The
Leadership Quarterly, 25(2), pp.183-203.
O'Connell, P.K., 2014. A simplified framework for 21st century leader development. The
Leadership Quarterly, 25(2), pp.183-203.
Odumeru, J.A. and Ogbonna, I.G., 2013. Transformational vs. transactional leadership
theories: Evidence in literature. International Review of Management and Business
Research, 2(2), p.355.
Renzulli, J.S. and D’Souza, S., 2014. Intelligences outside the normal curve: Co-cognitive
factors that contribute to the creation of social capital and leadership skills in young
people. Critical issues and practices in gifted education: What the research says, pp.343-362.
Schleicher, A., 2015. Schools for 21st-Century Learners: Strong Leaders, Confident
Teachers, Innovative Approaches. International Summit on the Teaching Profession. OECD
Publishing. 2, rue Andre Pascal, F-75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.
Schuh, S.C., Bark, A.S.H., Van Quaquebeke, N., Hossiep, R., Frieg, P. and Van Dick, R.,
2014. Gender differences in leadership role occupancy: The mediating role of power
motivation. Journal of Business Ethics, 120(3), pp.363-379.
Sebrant, U., 2014. Emotion, power and identity. Emotional display of envy when taking on
management roles in a professional hierarchy. Journal of health organization and
management, 28(4), pp.548-561.
Sen, A. and Haque, S., 2016. HR Metrics and the Financial Performance of a Firm. Journal
of Management Research (09725814), 16(3).

Smith, J.B. and Bejou, D., 2015. Sex differences in relationship management: An exploratory
analysis. In Proceedings of the 1995 World Marketing Congress (pp. 376-383). Springer,
Cham.
Stafford, R., Berry, C., Cochran, J., Livingood, R., Neihof, J. and Orr, A., 2015. Legacy
leadership: Six strategies for the 21st century superintendent(Doctoral dissertation, Northern
Kentucky University).
Thomson, J., 2013. 21st Century leadership. Strategic Finance, 95(5), pp.23-24.
Tomal, D. R., & Jones, K. J. (2015). A Comparison of Core Competencies of Women and
Men Leaders in the Manufacturing Industry. The Coastal Business Journal, 14(1), 13.
Walter, F. and Scheibe, S., 2013. A literature review and emotion-based model of age and
leadership: New directions for the trait approach. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(6), pp.882-
901.
Wiengarten, F., Lo, C.K. and Lam, J.Y., 2017. How does sustainability leadership affect firm
performance? The choices associated with appointing a chief officer of corporate social
responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 140(3), pp.477-493.
Williams, M.J., 2014. Serving the self from the seat of power: Goals and threats predict
leaders’ self-interested behavior. Journal of Management, 40(5), pp.1365-1395.