Leadership Perspectives: Knowledge into Action

Citation

Hughes, L.W. (2009), "Leadership Perspectives: Knowledge into Action", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 292-294. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730910949562

The global practice of leadership is evolving into new areas of origin and application and unique perspectives on leadership are called from. To address the increasing complexity of the practice of leadership, the first edition book, Leadership Perspectives: Knowledge into Action (Perspectives) is a welcome addition to new and innovative thinking about leadership, and how it is studied and practiced.

Perspectives was written for academics who investigate the leadership and for practitioners who might apply the results to their environments. The contributors represent a cross‐section of disciplines including scholars and practitioners from the organizational sciences with emphases in diversity, history, political science, management, philosophy, and ethics. Perspectives is one of a two‐volume work comprised of submissions to the 2006 Fifth International Studying Leadership Conference, held at the Cranfield School of Management. Both Perspectives, and its companion, Leadership Learning: Knowledge into Action, were compiled for the purpose of capturing emerging themes and new directions in the study of leadership. Learning focuses on leadership development while Perspectives, the focus of this review, focuses on practice.

Beyond the editors' introductory contribution, 15 chapters comprise Perspectives, which represents a sample of more than 50 papers presented at the conference, all of which offer new perspectives on leadership. This book contains dialogues of new directions to bring knowledge of leadership into practice and bridging the gap between academe and practice. The chapters fall into one of three categories: “New Constructions of Leadership,” “Importance of Context,” and “Leadership and Relationships.”

In “New Constructions of Leadership,” authors challenge the notion that leadership study should be restricted to followers of an individual leader and more on how it operates within various environments. Martin Wood and Donna Ladkin suggest that culture and history define context in which leadership operates. Similarly, Peter Simpson and Clifford Hill suggest the application of historical perspective to modern contexts and that leadership is emergent. While common thought suggests that leader character and behavior drive change, thematic elements within the context drive leadership emergence.

Elements of the positive psychology movement are also evidenced in this section. Robert French discusses the impact of results‐based leadership within the context of an organization and how, as a result, moral standards may be compromised. His solution is a “friendship” model. Additionally, French, Maryse Dubouloy addresses responsible leadership rather than results‐based. Dubouloy's version reflects similar thinking that leaders seek to actualize their possible selves on the path to authenticity (Avolio and Luthans, 2006).

The continuing challenge of defining and operationalizing strategic leadership is addressed by Kim Turnball James, Cliff Bowman, and Richard Kwiatkowski. Their contribution addresses shortcomings in the conceptualization and study of strategic leadership. A solution is what they term the “Main Idea” that permeates an organization and its culture thus setting standards and guidelines for members. In a similar vein, Martin Clarke and David Butcher consider the complexity of top leadership in the myriad of organizational stakeholders. A democratic approach is suggested to lead when leaders are challenged in their attempts to balance diverse stakeholder concerns that often run contrary to each other.

“Importance of Context” explores a myriad of situational variables and responses. The dichotomy of leadership preference in public sector leadership is investigated by Su Maddock who indicates that despite research supporting the value of the transformational leadership end of the Full Range Model, public sector leaders continue to embrace a more directive, transactional approach. In the context of the British Army, Mike Dunn developed and offers a model of strategies unique to women whom he found lead differently in this environment than do men. Alan Bryman offers a holistic perspective suggesting that leaders are both sovereigns and slaves to context as he considered the operation of leadership in Great Britain's system of higher education. Summarizing this section is an examination of how social identity can be a more cohesive force than leadership style (e.g. transformational, transactional, etc.). Gareth Edwards and Doris Jepson caution that this distinction becomes salient when a leader from one group is appointed to oversee the activities of a variety of groups, each with a salient identity.

The final section, “Leadership and Relationships,” explores the variety of relationships held by leaders. The political arena is a common context. Jean Hartley and Clive Fletcher explore leaders' diverse interests both in and out of role. A political awareness model focuses more on leadership “of” than “in” an organization. Additionally, and based on decades of observational research, Simon Baddeley describes how both politicians and public managers socially construct leadership in local government.

Efficacy beliefs and their relationship with successful leadership outcomes are suggested to be more explanatory of a leader's motivation and behavior than prior success measured by objective outcomes. Joe Jaina employs case studies to explore whether a more confident leader is likely to exert greater effect in the face of adverse organizational situation than a measurably effective leader. Ruth Sealy and Val Singh discuss the importance of role modeling in the formation of social identity and the construction of leadership. Leaders cannot reach their full potential sans role models. Sealy and Singh identify the apparent lack of female role models for developing women as leaders. This challenge is perpetuated in environments which remain male‐dominant such as MBA programs. A model of distributed leadership is presented by Jitse van Ameijde, Patrick Nelson, Jon Billsberry, and Nathalie van Meurs who investigated project teams and found the influence of both external and internal factors on team effectiveness.

The book contains a comprehensive index, but one shortcoming is that there is not an author index. The citations used in each chapter are referenced at the end of its respective chapter. In order to locate specific works, the reader must page to each chapter's bibliography. Perspectives offers a welcome balance to the continual and important validation of existing leadership theory. It is difficult to place new and challenging ideas such as these in traditional academic journals. This volume represents a variety of refreshing, unique and interesting windows into different conceptualizations of leadership and their application.