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Article
Burns, Senge, and the Study of Leadership
Open Journal of Leadership
  • W. Michael Reid, University of South Florida
  • Claudia J. Dold, University of South Florida
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Keywords
  • James MacGregor Burns,
  • Peter Senge,
  • leadership,
  • learning organization
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.4236/ojl.2018.71006
Abstract

James MacGregor Burns and Peter Senge have been two of the most influential writers on leadership over the past 40 years. This paper is based, in part, on a survey of articles published in four leading leadership Journals (Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Journal of Leadership Studies, Leadership, and Open Journal of Leadership) to determine how the concepts of Burns and Senge were used in the articles. Each journal was searched from its first issue through January 1, 2018 for references to Burns and Senge. The authors found frequent references to each of them, but no systematic, adequate summary of their key concepts. The great majority of references was brief and at most highlighted one or two of the components of their thought. This paper summarizes the uses to which Burns’ and Senge’s ideas were put in the articles, provides a detailed summary of each of their major concepts, and compares their concepts. The comparison shows the considerable similarity between their key ideas. The paper recommends areas for further leadership studies to augment the understanding of how their ideas have been implemented and their effects on practice.

Rights Information
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Citation / Publisher Attribution

Open Journal of Leadership, v. 7, no. 1, art. 83458

Citation Information
W. Michael Reid and Claudia J. Dold. "Burns, Senge, and the Study of Leadership" Open Journal of Leadership Vol. 7 Iss. 1 (2018)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/claudia_dold/83/