This article argues that current trait, style, situational, and functional leadership approaches pose several barriers to increasing our understanding of the relationship between leadership and group performance. An alternative conceptualization of leadership based upon communication competencies is presented. In the first section, a critique of traditional leadership approaches is offered. In the second section, a communication competency model is developed. Three situational factors that influence the need for the performance of communication competencies are proposed (1) task complexity, (2) group climate, and (3) role relationships. In the third section, a series of heuristic propositions-linking communication competencies, conversational topics, situational dimensions, and group outcomes are stated to serve as a framework for future leadership research from a communication competency perspective
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