The Fallacy of Misplaced Leadership

• Published in: Journal of management studies Vol. 42; no. 6; pp. 1101 - 1121
• Main Author: Wood, Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2005; Wiley Blackwell
• Series: Journal of Management Studies
• Subjects: Behavior; Dominance; Epistemology; Hierarchy; Incitement; Individual behaviour; Individuality; Knowledge management; Leadership; Management science; Organization theory; Personal relationships; Personality traits; R&D; Research & development; Social action; Social relations; Studies
• ISSN: 0022-2380; 1467-6486
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00535.x

The leadership literature typically talks about the discrete individuality of its subject and particularly the personal qualities and capabilities of a few key people occupying top positions in a hierarchy. Current leadership research now has begun to generate new knowledge about leadership practice in relations of interpersonal exchange. Nevertheless, there is an urgent need for the ramifications of this insight to be more sufficiently developed. The current discussion explores how a perspective of process studies challenges the dominance of the field by individual social actors and discrete schemes of relations. Its aims are twofold. First, it will show how both of these latter epistemologies are lacking and suggest that current leadership research and development activities must rise to the ontological challenge of processes rather than things. Second, it looks at some methodological implications of this way of thinking as a productive incitement to future management studies.