Constructing the GFC: Australian banking leaders during the financial ‘crisis’

Abstract

Mainstream accounts of the global financial crisis (GFC) have treated the 'crisis' as fixed and given with the role of leadership as paramount. Through the intertextual reading of media texts and interviews with banking leaders, this article in contrast demonstrates the dynamic, discursively constructed nature of leadership during the GFC. Despite the relative buoyancy of the local economy and strong performance of the major banks in Australia, the findings show how some banking chief executive officers were able to exploit the GFC by co-constructing with the media vivid, compelling narratives of their leadership in delivering their banks from 'crisis'. Although banking leaders conveyed via interviews an intractable, unpredictable view of the crisis and their adoption of more reactive approaches to the GFC, this study suggests that the media played a powerful role in enforcing a separation between 'front stage' and 'back stage' leadership performances. The article concludes that the vivid metaphors of crisis leadership lauded in the media served to reinforce the romance of leadership and potentially elide considerations of banking reform in the aftermath of the GFC.

Constructing Women’s Leadership Representation in the UK Press During a Time of Financial Crisis: Gender capitals and dialectical tensions

“…Analyses of the crisis's antecedents attribute its causes to styles of leadership characterised by hubris (Coleman & Pinder, 2010;Weitzner & Darroch, 2009), greed (Hargie et al, 2010;Tett, 2009;Liu; and the symbolic violence of neo-liberal leadership in the global banking sector (Kerr & Robinson, 2012).…”

“…On the other hand, feminist research on the forms of embodied cultural capital available to women in general (Skeggs, 1997;Huppatz, 2009), in senior roles specifically (Ross-Smith & Huppatz, 2010) and the gendered nature of leadership (Calas & Smircich, 1991;Billing & Alvesson, 2000;Fletcher, 2004;Mavin, 2008;Mavin & Grandy, 2016) point to 7 persistent gender inequality at senior organisational levels and the disruptiveness of women's bodies when occupying leadership positions. Suspicions regarding the social acceptability of women in leadership roles is supported by statistics that illustrate minimal improvements in women's representation on the boards of directors of FTSE 100 companies, the stubbornly low number of women CEO's (Sealy, Doldor & Vinnicombe, 2016), a retreat towards heroic leadership models (Liu, 2015) and 'a restoration of the traditional elite' (Kerr & Robinson, 2012, p. 258).…”

“…The GFC presents an interesting empirical context for an examination of the gendered nature of leadership as during this time women's leadership was presented as an antidote to the male dominated crisis (Liu, 2015). On the one hand the promotion of women's leadership through media outlets suggests a reversal of masculine domination of the leadership sphere.…”

Reimagining ethical leadership as a relational, contextual and political practice

“…This trend was further spurred by the prominent reporting of corporate malfeasance and corruption in the last decade, chronicling the collapse of companies such as Enron in the United States, HIH Insurance in Australia, as well as the more recent case of the Libor scandal in the United Kingdom. A recurring refrain in international media reporting of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was the idea that the crisis was brought about by unethical bankers and inadequate leadership (Ho, 2009;Liu, 2015;O'Reilly et al, 2011;Willmott, 2011).…”

Leadership narratives in a post-truth era

“…• Deliberate efforts by corporate actors, e.g. those involved in the 2008 financial crisis, to re-write history and absolve themselves from irresponsible behaviour (Liu, 2015;Mena et al, 2015). • Systematic attempts to discredit 'experts' and scientists through various conspiracy theories and other fanciful narratives that appeal to emotions rather than reason.…”