This paper advances the premise that leadership roles are contingent upon the requirements of evolving organizational contexts. Leadership's substantive and symbolic role aspects are reinterpreted in a conceptual model. Emphasis is given to leadership roles in situations of decline. A transition state is proposed to illustrate the volatile and unstable nature of decline contexts. In a transition state, leaders are predicted to emphasize both their symbolic and substantive roles. During more stable convergent time periods, leaders are predicted to primarily emphasize their symbolic roles while in times of major organizational reorientation, leaders are predicted to primarily emphasize their substantive roles. A conceptual model is developed to provide a framework for understanding the contingent relationship between leadership roles and the organizational context particularly in situations of decline. Some implications of this model are discussed.
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