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Introduction
A systematic examination of the leadership literature brings to light a plethora of theories propounded by scholars to provide an explanation as to what the concept is all about. These theories, ranging from the “Great man” theory, the behavioural theory through to the current transformational and transactional leadership theories, have basically emerged to explain the leadership landscape of the eras in which they emerged. A new addition to the collection of theories on leadership is the resilient leadership theory. This new leadership orientation has emerged in response to the serious and episodic nature of today’s threats or challenges, both man-made and natural, crippling the ability of organisations to perform, and also to meet the demands of the current world. In consideration of the above, one wonders if the discourse on leadership would come up with a cutting-edge leadership approach suited for all seasons and situations, given the fact that new theories of leadership emerge almost now and then adding to the already existing ones. This occurrence although good for the expansion of knowledge on leadership, broadens the argument and, thus, makes it impossible to reach a consensus as to which approach is ultimately the best (Povah, 2012; Humphrey, 2001).
In view of this, the paper in the hope of narrowing the discussion on the leadership concept seeks to conceptually examine this new and emerging leadership orientation in the literature – Resilient leadership – by juxtaposing it against two of the most widely accepted and best theories on leadership in the current leadership literature – Transactional and Transformational leadership theories. This conceptualisation is done to bring to bear the major and significant similarities among these three leadership orientations, and also to bring to bear the fact that resilient leadership is just an effective combination of all or some dimensions under the transformational and transactional leadership styles.
To achieve this objective, the three leadership theories are first assessed independently, and then, a further review of literature in relation to the two already existing leadership theories, transformational and transactional, is conducted side-by-side the resilient leadership theory to form the basis of this argument. Furthermore, the paper relies on empirical studies conducted in these areas over the years to strengthen the argument for the incorporation...