CONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES ON STRATEGIC LEADERS - TOWARD A MORE REALISTIC VIEW OF TOP MANAGERS

Previous empirical studies of top managers tend to draw from either po sitive agency theory or strategic leadership theory. This manuscript r eviews and critiques these two approaches, outlining their advantages and inherent limitations. Because each is inherently limited, we sugge st that developments in personality theory, transformational leadershi p theory, and visionary leadership theory can contribute to a more rea listic view of top managers. Consequently, we contrast these three alt ernative perspectives with the two more dominant approaches in this ma nuscript. As a result, we identify future research directions for scho lars interested in studying strategic leadership.