Exploring Leadership Individual, Organizational, and Societal Perspectives

by Bolden, Richard; Gosling, Jonathan; Hawkins, Beverley; Taylor, Scott

• ISBN13: 9780199547654
• ISBN10: 0199547653
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-09-25
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Are leaders born or made? Does each society get the leaders it deserves? How - and why - is leadership 'rhetoric' different from leadership in reality? Leadership is one of the most talked about yet least understood concepts in current business and society. This book explores how theoretical models and views of leadership have evolved over time, how leadership should be discussed from individual, organizational, and societal perspectives, and the perennial dilemmas and emerging perspectives of leadership. Positioning its discussion within a multidisciplinary framework that touches on management, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, history, literature, and politics, this book examines and critiques the common assumptions that inform the ways in which leaders and leadership is recognized, rewarded, and developed. It provides a valuable and thought-provoking overview for students and academics interested in leadership and management, practising leaders, leadership development consultants, and policy makers.

Author Biography

Richard Bolden's current research interests include distributed/shared leadership, leadership in higher education, cross-cultural leadership, and the relationship between leadership development and performance management. Teaching responsibilities include the Exeter MBA, CPD award, BA in Management and Leadership, and MA in Leadership Studies. Prior to joining CLS he was a research psychologist at the Institute for Work Psychology, University of Sheffield. He has an extensive publication history, including numerous journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, and research reports.

Jonathan Gosling trained as an anthropologist before working for several years as a mediator in neighbourhood conflicts in London. After taking a mid-career MBA, he moved into management education at Lancaster University, where he directed the MBA and other executive programmes, and co-founded, with Henry Mintzberg, a new approach to management education: the International Masters in Practising Management. In 2003 Jonathan joined the University of Exeter as Director of the Centre for Leadership Studies and Professor of Leadership Studies. He has published articles in numerous key management and leadership journals, and several books, including: Nelson's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Commander (2005, Brealey), Leadership: the Key Concepts (2007, Routledge), and John Adair: Fundamentals of Leadership (2007, Palgrave Macmillan). Jonathan advises companies, international agencies, and government departments on their leadership-related issues.

Beverley Hawkins has been a lecturer at the Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter Business School since January 2009. She has published work on recruitment and selection practices, leadership and corporate culture, resistance to leadership and teamworking practices.

Scott Taylor is Reader in Leadership & Organization Studies, Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. Before this he worked as a senior lecturer in the Centre for Leadership Studies at University of Exeter Business School, and has lectured and researched at Manchester Metropolitan, Open, Birmingham, and Essex universities, where he was involved in under- and postgraduate education.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Boxes	p. xi
Author Biographies	p. xii
Acknowlekgements	p. xiv
Introduction: Exploring Leadership	p. 1
Not 'Another' Book on Leadership!	p. 1
Leadership: The Panacea of our Times?	p. 4
Changing Perspectives on Leadership	p. 6
Studying Leadership	p. 7
Dissatisfaction with Leadership and Management Theory and Education	p. 10
Reframing Leadership Studies	p. 13
Chapter Summary	p. 15
Theoretical Perspectives on Leadership	p. 17
The Contested Nature of Leadership	p. 17
Philosophical Origins of Contemporary Leadership Theory	p. 20
Leadership is Sexy and Management is Boring. or are they?	p. 23
Contemporary Theories of Leadership	p. 25
So, What is Leadership?	p. 38
Chapter Summary	p. 40
Individual Perspectives on Leadership	p. 42
Leadership and Personality: What are Leaders Like?	p. 42
Leadership Styles and Behaviours: What do Leaders do?	p. 46
Leadership and Identity: Who do you Think you are?	p. 49
Keeping it Real: The Implications of Authentic Leadership	p. 53
Are You Sitting Comfortably? Leaders as Storytellers	p. 56
Leading from the Heart? Leadership and Emotions	p. 59
Just Another Set of Traits? Critiques of Authentic and Emotionally Intelligent Leadership	p. 64
Chapter Summary	p. 65
Organizational Perspectives on Leadership	p. 67
Leadership and Organizational Performance	p. 68
Leadership and Power	p. 73
Leadership Competencies: The Science of Leadership	p. 78
Setting the Direction: Strategic Leadership	p. 84
Rites, Rituals, and Belonging: Leadership and Organizational Culture	p. 91
Setting the Scene: Putting Leadership into Context	p. 96
Researching Leadership in Organizations	p. 99
Chapter Summary	p. 100
Societal Perspectives on Leadership	p. 102
Being 'One of us': Leading in Communities	p. 102
Being Global, Being Local, and Being Worldly	p. 112
Saving Our Planet and Ourselves: Leading for Sustainability	p. 116
Beauty and Aesthetics in Leadership: Cultural Leadership	p. 123
When 'Leadership' isn't the Answer	p. 127
Chapter Summary	p. 137
Emerging Perspectives and Enduring Dilemmas in Leadership	p. 139
Why can't a Woman Behave like a Man? Leadership and Gender	p. 140
Leaders Make me Sick! Leadership and Toxicity	p. 144
Being Absent, Being Present: Leadership in a 'Virtual World'	p. 148
The Social Responsibility of Business is. Leadership and Morality	p. 152
Leading into a Meaningful Future: Leadership and Spirituality	p. 157
Chapter Summary	p. 164
Conclusion: Where Next for Leadership Studies?	p. 166
Leadership, Society and the Next Ten Years	p. 166
Preparing for an Uncertain Future	p. 168
Many Perspectives but no 'Right' Way of Looking at Leadership	p. 170
Rerouting our Enquiries	p. 171
Moving Forward with an Eye on the Past	p. 182
Chapter Summary	p. 183
References	p. 184
Index	p. 207
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