Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 185, 91-94
Book Review
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Pracce (7th
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Reviewed by: Vicki Squires, University of Saskatchewan
Leadership theories continue to evolve as the sociocultural, economic, and political environments change.
Understanding this evolution and exploring the current models informs the practice of leadership across
organizations. In his seventh edition of Leadership: Theory and Practice, Northouse (2016) presents an ex-
pansive exploration of leadership theories and their applications to the current realities of leadership. This
book provides readers with a broad overview of the field of leadership and insight into how these models
are relevant in practice; Northouse contends that the volume is suitable for use as a text for undergraduate
and graduate classes. This reviewer concurs with that contention, but would argue that the expansiveness
of this volume would be more suited for the depth of information within a graduate class.
The layout of each chapter is similar, and allows the reader to examine each model or theory in great
detail, including an historical overview of the theory`s development and the seminal authors who are
connected with that particular theory. The first part of each chapter describes the leadership theory and
any supporting research, whereas the second half critiques the theory, pointing out the strengths and lim-
itations of the theory. Each chapter then concludes with a summary. This format lends support to the use
of this book as a text for coursework and is, as Northouse (2016) contends, user-friendly. Furthermore,
for each chapter, he applies the model to several case studies, and includes questionnaires, figures, and
tables that further explain the practical applications of the theory. Northouse posits that theories of leader-
ship have been conceived as leadership as traits, or leadership as process; this conceptualization explains
his approach to the organization of the text where he groups the theories within these broad categories.
Northouse presents an overview of previous approaches to understanding leadership, including the skills
