ABSTRACT. Classic leadership theories – the traditional, behavioral, situational, transactional, transformational and visionary models – have all been successful in the past in guiding managers on how to develop, motivate and inspire fellow associates for excelling performance. But modern organizations have become increasingly complex, nonlinear and strategically-responsive entities structured with advanced networks of highly empowered teams of knowledge workers, making it difficult for any one of these theories to singularly address the challenge of providing strategic guidance to team managers particularly in today’s dynamic global business environment. 3D Leadership, the framework presented here, is a multi-theory integrated approach that combines the visionary, transformational and transactional dimensions of leadership into a single practicable leadership framework that draws upon findings from both past and recent leadership research. STL incorporates a three-stage bi-dimensional behavioral intervention model for team management practice and provides step-by-step guidance to modern team managers on how to integrate work deliveries and competencies of teammates with the vision, mission, goals and chosen strategies of their firm. pp. 30–55
JEL codes: J53; M12; M54

Keywords: leadership; strategic team leadership; team management; team development; leadership modes; leadership styles

How to cite: Kunnanatt, James Thomas (2016), “3D Leadership – Strategy-Linked Leadership Framework for Managing Teams,” Economics, Management, and Financial Markets 11(3): 30–55.

Received 21 March 2015 • Received in revised form 6 February 2016
Accepted 7 February 2016 • Available online 25 March 2016