In today’s volatile, uncertainty, complex, and ambiguous environment, survival has become a crucial challenge for almost all kinds of organisations. Shrinking product life cycles, globalisation, rapid technological changes, and workforce diversity have forced organisations to move away from conventional approaches towards more dynamic ones. Transformational and situational leadership theories must be adopted in organisations in order to address these vibrant changes and to create customer oriented differentiation as well as attainment of sustainable competitive advantage. The study adopted the mixed method research methodology to assess the relevance of transformational, transactional, style and behavioural, trait and situational leadership theories. A 5-point likert scale was used to collect quantitative data and documentary analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. A sample of 60 respondents from organisations in the manufacturing sector was used. Manufacturing sector was selected as it play a great role in transforming countries. The study revealed that leadership theories plays a critical role in the exploitation of creative resources in an organisation as it helps in narrowing down the gap between level of individual creative potential and actual amount of individual creativity practiced within an organisation. Managers should introspect and examine their own leadership styles and practices and should adopt those which suit best in their respective climates in order to enhance overall organisational effectiveness. The study concluded that leader’s attitudes towards the important determinants of creativity and control over them impacts the way creativity is being utilized and implemented in an organisation.

Key words: Leadership theories, creativity, organisation

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