Multiple Pathways to Leadership: A Revision and Extension of the CIP Leadership Framework

The charismatic, ideological, and pragmatic (CIP) theory of leadership emphasizes an equifinality approach to leading, where a diverse set of styles are theorized to serve as viable routes to leader influence and success. The theory has received substantial support and attention over the past 15 years, yet there is a need to address key limitations and expand on insights from recent reviews to offer a revised and extended version of the CIP theory. We offer that each leader type emphasizes varying influence mechanisms resulting in differing dominant reactions from followers. In addition, we discuss the importance of considering mixed pathways as a key avenue for future iterations of the framework. Our proposed model addresses several criticisms of modern leadership theories by specifying how different leadership approaches elicit varying dominant follower motivational and effort mechanisms.