Leadership, more or less? A processual, communication perspective on the role of agency in leadership theory

Abstract

'More' or 'better' leadership remains a popular panacea for business failure, climate change, educational underachievement and myriad other world problems. Yet there has been a growing concern that traditional approaches to the subject have naturalised oppressive power relationships, particularly in the workplace. Scholars have therefore put more stress on the creative contribution of 'followers' as co-creators of organisational reality. It is now normal to find calls for shared leadership, less leadership or no leadership. This article argues that even when couched in emancipatory terms, many of these perspectives still tend to diminish the contribution of organisational actors who do not occupy formal leadership roles. Communication and process theories of organisation are employed to suggest that leadership could be more usefully envisaged as those practices which see leaders occupying transitory roles within fluid social structures, in which there is no essence of leadership apart from the discursive constructions of organisational actors and in which the facilitation of disagreement and dissent holds the same importance as a traditional stress on the achievement of cohesion and agreement.

What does it mean to be responsible? Addressing the missing responsibility dimension in ethical leadership research

“…Shared leadership can guarantee that stakeholders are considered equals and their voices are heard. This approach emphasizes leadership as a communicative process through which it is possible to create shared meaning among stakeholders (Ashman and Lawler, 2008;Tourish, 2014).…”

“…This body of research relies considerably on assumptions of extended agency, portraying the leader often as the only one who is able to solve ethical problems (Fairhurst and Connaughton, 2014;Tourish, 2014 'ethical' goals. The argument that will be developed at length further down is that including responsibility as a dimension of leadership can help researchers address all four critical points of the current discussion on ethical leadership.…”

“…The 'social connection' model puts forth the argument that 'all those who contribute by their actions to the structural processes that produce injustice share responsibility for those harms' (Young, 2011, p. 109;emphasis added (Clifton, 2014;Fairhurst and Connaughton, 2014 an exclusive quality of the 'leader' to a shared process of meaning-management among actors (Fairhurst, 2007;Tourish, 2014).…”

Barns ledarskap: För en vidgad vokabulär genom skiftande exempel

“…Trots vissa överlappande intressen inom kritiska ledarskapsstudier och barndomsforskning kring agency och relationer refererar forskare inom områdena i dagsläget inte varandra (Cardell kommande). Makt är även ett angeläget område för kritiska forskare med fokus på ledarskap (Alvesson och Spicer 2012;Tourish 2013Tourish , 2014. Att fokusera på makt är relevant då ledarskap baseras på relationer som kän-netecknas av en asymmetri, exempelvis mellan vuxna och barn eller ledare och föl-jare.…”

“…Att fokusera på makt är relevant då ledarskap baseras på relationer som kän-netecknas av en asymmetri, exempelvis mellan vuxna och barn eller ledare och föl-jare. Teoretiskt ser jag också möjligheter i form av begrepp om agency och makt som intresserar barn (doms) forskare likväl som ledarskapsforskare (Carroll et al 2008;Oswell 2013;Raelin 2016;Smith 2012;Tourish 2014;Walker 2017). Även om kritiska ledarskapsforskare liksom organisationsforskare inte varit särskilt intresserade av barn eller ålder så har en agenda för att studera barn, organisation och ledarskap lagts fram i vilken empiriska studier eftersöks (Kavanagh 2013(Kavanagh : 1488.…”