Opinion Leaders

Opinion Leaders were first described by Burns (1978), as one of his five types of transactional leaders.  The other four leadership styles include group leaders, legislative leaders, executive leaders, and party leaders.

Opinion leaders are those individuals that are thought to be in touch with public opinion.  The transactional nature of opinion leaders is less clear, but the concept is explained by the following example.  If the leadership of a union labor workforce were to express their opinion in a public forum; for example, the union supports a presidential candidate.  The hope is the opinion leader will influence public opinion, and be rewarded by the president through political favors.