APPRECIATIVE LEADERSHIP AND IMPACT ON INNOVATION Ragae Mostafa, Master student, Egypt Study place: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia Aibergenuly Chingis, Master students, Kazakhstan Study place: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia Utkelbayeva Perizat, Master students, Kazakhstan Study place: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia Annotation: Appreciative Leadership is unique among leadership theories both past and present. <...> What follows is a summary of Appreciative Inquiry and the five main principles on which it is based. <...> We then discuss Appreciative Leadership in terms of its place among leadership theories in general. <...> Appreciative Leadership: The role of an appreciative leader is to be a catalyst of change and to look for and nurture the best in others (Whitney, TrostenBloom, & Rader, 2010; Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005). <...> An Appreciative Leader is a strength-based leader. <...> Leaders are considered to be role models of appreciative inquiry in their relationships with others and participate along with other staff and colleagues in the inquiry process. <...> In a sense, the leader is less important than the questions she or he asks, the discourse these questions create, and the ongoing quest 204 6’2016 of seeing the positive potential in both the staff and organization. <...> Leadership theories such as the Great Man Theory, Trait Theory, Behavior Theory, and Transformational Theory rely on the characteristics and behavior of the leader and elevate the leader in a way that would be counter – productive in an Appreciative Inquiry environment. <...> Contingency Theory matches the characteristics of the leader with situational variables and therefore also misses the mark. <...> What is necessary, and lacking in these other perspective on leadership, is the view of a positive core waiting to be discovered in all organizations. <...> Both theories originate in behavioral theory although LMX theory has moved beyond this theory to focus on different aspects of leader-follower dyads. <...> Appreciative Inquiry moves beyond this behavioral analysis and discussion of leader/follower dynamics to a broader view of organizational member participation as a co-constructor of present and future possibilities. <...> This is a very different leadership role and although models of distributed and shared leadership may come closer in reflecting a flatter and more shared leadership structure, the key to Appreciative Leadership is the leader’s place within an appreciative process which sets this leadership <...>