Abstract

The problem. The purpose of the study was to examine the unique leadership of J. Krishnamurti, a man who insisted not only that he was not a leader but that no one should follow any leader. The findings about this particular leader could add new insights to the study of leadership in general. ;Method. Historical research and content analysis of the life, teachings and writings of J. Krishnamurti were conducted, as well as extensive research in the field of leadership studies. All of the books written by J. Krishnamurti were analyzed along with 11 books written about him and all references to him found in the New York Times Index and the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. The complete collection of all of Krishnamurti's books, booklets, pamphlets, audio and video tapes were available at the Krishnamurti Library in Ojai, California. With special permission from the Krishnamurti Foundation of America, materials in the Krishnamurti Archives were also consulted. All references to leadership activities in his life were collected, analyzed and compared with past and present definitions and theories of leadership in the literature to determine whether the dimensions of those dimensions and theories were applicable to his circumstances. ;Results. Analysis of the data resulted in the finding that even though J. Krishnamurti professed not to be a leader and had no identifiable followers, he met all the standards of Hersey and Blanchard's definition of leadership as a process of influencing the activities of an individual or group in efforts toward goal achievement in a given situation. His leadership was consistent not only with the trait, behavioral and situational theories of leadership, but also with the transactional and transformational theories of Burns . The conclusion was that J. Krishnamurti demonstrated the qualities of leadership as relationship while what he strongly opposed most of his lifetime was the concept of leadership as power