This paper examines leadership and its associated prominent theories from the perspectives of Mitroff and Linstone's (1993) five inquiry systems.
Five inquiry systems: Lockean (Inductive‐Consensual); Leibnitzian (Analytic‐Deductive); Kantian (Multiple Realities); Hegelian (Dialectic); and Singerian (Unbounded Systems Thinking) – are used to consider the advantages and disadvantages of major theories of leadership.
Although each inquiry system has some beneficial application to leadership theory development, the article posits that the Kantian, Hegelian, and Singerian inquiry systems offer the greatest potential to understand the complex phenomenon of leadership.
Implications for leadership research are offered based on each of the five inquiry systems.
The value of this article comes from using the inquiry systems to look at leadership theory and research from fresh philosophical perspectives.
