Pyramids, circles, and teams: Confronting leadership issues.

This article traces the ongoing controversy about the relative value of hierarchies and teams in corporate organizations through a presentation case histories of two current executive leaders, both recently attaining their positions and faced with problematic situations involving difficult senior players who report to them. It uses the case histories to illustrate differences in personality and leadership styles, describing these in terms of pyramids and circles, and uses this context to argue for a continuum of successful leadership styles and behaviors that work only when suited to the personality and style of the leaders themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)