A Selective Review of Leadership Studies in the U.S. Army

This article provides an overview of Army leadership studies and highlights past, current, and future directions for military leadership studies within the U.S. Army. We discuss research on the conceptualization and measurement of military leadership, as well as leader development and situational leadership. Specifically, we note that the Army's conceptualization of leadership has evolved from job-analytic approaches toward competency-based approaches; that measurement of leadership has shifted from cognitive factors to interpersonal competencies; that leader development has focused on preparing leaders for the full spectrum of operations; and that focus on contextual factors has led to increased research in situational leadership.