Contemporary Leadership Leadership Advance Online – Issue XX

In the search for effective methods and theories for contemporary leadership, the social sciences have been mined and adapted for the development of emerging theories. However, there is yet to be a consensus concerning effective leadership. In her search for answers in leading organizations, Wheatley (1999) ponders why progress so often comes from unexpected places or as a result of surprises that our planning had not considered. The answer may be in the method of understanding the system of organization and leadership. In the western world, the linear way of doing research has produced great advances; yet, the way into the future may require nonlinear integrated systems of thinking such as integral theory. In this theory, there are four perspectives through which the world is experienced, and reality can be viewed yielding an effective theory (Wilber, 1997). In this connection, leadership may yield further nuances of reality for research and the development of more fully developed theories that could answer the question of unexpected results. In integral theory, new partnerships are developed, such as that of leadership theory and quantum physics which will serve as an example in developing nonlinear models for organizations and leadership. This article will demonstrate how to use integral theory in the development of leadership theory. Integral Theor