Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems

Leadership has traditionally been seen as a distinctly interpersonal phenom enon demonstrated in the interactions between leaders and subordinates. The theory of leadership presented in this article proposes that effective lea dership behavior fundamentally depends upon the leader's ability to solve t he kinds of complex social problems that arise in organizations. The skills that make this type of complex social problem solving possible are discuss ed. The differential characteristics and career experiences likely to influ ence the development of these skills also are considered along with the imp lications of these observations for leadership theory and for the career de velopment of organizational leaders.