SUMMARY
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is upon us, emerging at a rapid pace and providing digitalisation and technology systems that can improve the agility and efficiency of the South African petroleum industry. Owing to the dynamism of and unfamiliarity with 4IR ways of working, leaders are grappling with how changes brought upon by 4IR affect their role in the organisation. In this study, the current leadership styles employed in the South African petroleum industry were investigated, and the type of leadership style required to lead a 4IR organisation effectively was determined, in order to provide recommendations of changes that leadership needs to undergo to best support the 4IR. A conceptual model was developed in which the study was sub-divided into a pre-4IR phase, transitioning to the 4IR phase, and then to fully functioning 4IR organisations. A structured questionnaire was sent to leaders in the South African petroleum industry, in which they were asked their views on leadership theories, factors influencing leadership, and leadership models pertinent to each of the three phases of 4IR. The findings of the study show that, for leaders to thrive in 4IR, they must move away from authoritarian, bureaucratic, and task-orientated leadership styles and embrace transformational, people-orientated, and charismatic leadership styles.