A historical deconstruction of leadership style

In this chapter, we engage critically with the current popular notion of leadership style and its origins in an experimental study conducted by Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939). We argue that the research was deeply flawed in its design, the researchers held fundamental biases that they ensured were reflected in the results.This chapter has two aims: to indicate how a deeply flawed social experiment led to a concept that was not supported by the actual results; and that all readers should learn to be critical about reading research in regard to design and recommendations regarding particular forms of leadership, and how it is transferred into educational settings. This chapter can be considered a case study of how the experiences of a researcher in growing up can lead to later scientific work that is biased toward a specific result. Lewin's life and work are thus a kind of biographical case study.