The concept of influence shaped by compassion to lead others is an expression of an emerging society driven by collective social experiences.
— Kaleb Heitzman
An Emerging Leadership Lifestyle
The field of leadership is characteristic of sociology in such that as time passes by and as groups and organizations change, new sociological paradigms have to be constructed to understand the society that ensues 1. Leadership has proven to be no different. Leadership is still a relatively young field, yet the theories and paradigms being produced are numerous and ever changing. Leadership is truly an applied science in an effort to influence people.
As society changes, our paradigms change and a new paradigm in leadership has emerged amongst us. This new paradigm fits into the symbolic framework as described by Bolman and Deal. 2 Bolman and Deal detail four frameworks for analyzing leadership. These consist of the structural, human resource, political and symbolic frameworks. Loosely, this new paradigm has been termed organic leadership. While some consider it an oxymoron 3, there are other individuals and groups who have multiple thoughts about what organic leadership is and its valid application in different communities and organizations 4.
