A scholarly review of researchable theories of managerial leadership reveals that most define it as focusing exclusively on or including as a major component the "person-in-charge" (Graen, 2012a). This is a possible disconnect.
This happens when the "person-in-charge" has no managerial leadership in the business unit. Logically, such cases both have the person and have not the construct of interest.
A way to correct this misconnect would be to reject the use of "person-in-charge" altogether.
One theory has consistently rejected the "person-in-charge" concept (Graen, 2012b). This theory defines managerial leadership as the art of solving "wicked problems", of forming unique strategic alliances (USA) with instrumental people and jointly tackling common problems. Note, this includes nothing about the "person-in-charge".
I propose that we stop using the "person-in-charge" because it has caused a good deal of wasted effort by colleagues. What do you think?
Graen, G.B. (2012a). The new LMX theory: The missing link of interpersonal strategic alliances. In M.G. Rumsey (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Leadership, Oxford University Press, pp 359-375.
Graen, G. B., (2012b). Overview of future research directions for team leadership. In M. Rumsey (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Leadership, London, UK: Oxford University Press, pp 167-183.
George Graen