| 1 |
Toward a theory of potency, power and function leadership
|
|
|
|
Abstract:
Among the English language field, interest in leadership, evidenced by the growing body of academic and non-academic literature, has been very high in recent decades (Bodolica & Spraggon, 2020 ; Fries, Kammerlander & Leitterstorf, 2020). However, the challenge of defining what leadership ‘is’ persists (Waldman, Siegel, & Stahl, 2020; Stogdill, 1974). One of the few common areas of understanding that has emerged consists of viewing leadership as an interaction revolving around three principal pillars: leader, follower and context (Avolio et al., 2020; Gilani et al., 2020). Within this, it is important to recognise the dialectics between leaders and followers that mobilise around issues of power in organizations (Collinson, 2005, 2017). This consensus is relatively recent insofar as, during much of the last century, management science research focused on notions of efficiency of leadership (Avolio, 2007). In tandem with these developments, research has also considered the fusion of HRM in relation to leadership dynamics and HRM organizational development practices (Collings et al., 2018; Leroy et al., 2018; DeRue & Wellman, 2009; Liu et al, 2003). Overall, the interest in leadership results largely from its ability to transform an organization (Odom et al., 2017; Kotter, 1995) and also from the recognition that the new-millenial world requires continual reinvention by organizations, no matter in which domain or sector they are involved. This ‘leadership calling’ has generated themes of leadership development and cultivation, which forms one of the main evolutionary dimensions of emergent leadership theories (Avolio et al., 2009), such as, for example, authentic leadership (Leroy et al., 2018; Luthans & Avolio, 2003). Another prime theme of emerging leadership theories concerns the importance of the ‘follower’. Followers have become, according to Avolio et al. (2009, p. 442): ‘an integral part of the leadership dynamic system’. However, as a significant lacunae, only a few studies pay attention to the effects of leadership that followers actually experience (see Borgmann et al., 2016). This is due primarily to a predominance of leader-centric approaches as if followers were for the most part: ‘left out of the leadership research equation’ (Uhl-Bien et al., 2014, p. 83). Due to the constantly evolving complexity and variety of leadership requirements and contexts, the question regarding the transformations that leaders may facilitate among their followers seems key in the contemporary era, (Hannah & Jennings, 2013). Therefore, studying leadership according to the nature of the transformations experienced by the follower is important and merits attention. As a contribution to this debate, the present paper explores the leader, follower and context triptych (Avolio, 2007), in relation to notions of power, function and potency drawing on the work of Deleuze (1996, 1998, 2004). Here, potency may be understood as being associated with notions of giving, creating and sharing in leadership rather than trying to direct and dominate through power and control (Deleuze, 2004). Thus, the paper argues that leadership, in its various guises, and its relationship with organizational development is worthy of examination in order to understand leader impacts on followers in a deeper manner. Lastly, as leadership emerges as imperative, the issue of identifying the most contextually valuable forms of leadership - also a goal of this study - should be considered. In association with the above-outlined issues, the nexus of leadership and HRM is therefore vital: “one should not be valued above the other” (Leroy et al., 2018, p. 249) as both aim at employee motivation and performance. Our research, grounded on empirical data, adds to this double purpose the key one of the development of the employee her-him/self as an individual and as follower. The argument thus develops the following research question: RQ: “What is the nature, process and implications of potency leadership in relation to leader-follower dynamics and HRM people development?” Therefore, in the following argument, the main stages of this study are, first a literature review of potency leadership in terms of the effects a leader may create among follower(s) which discusses the organizational impact of potency, as compared with other forms of, leadership. These are applied and discussed through HRM aspects and the influence the organization may have on leadership development. This is followed by a detailed outline of the inductive methodological approach adopted. The elite interview results are presented and discussed followed by a series of implications for management. The final section of the paper identifies future areas for exploration.
|
|
Keyword:
leadership; potency; power
|
|
URL: https://hdl.handle.net/2086/21610
|
|
BASE
|
|
Hide details
|
|
|
| 2 |
The globalisation of business activity: structures, processes and prospects for the demise of postmodernism
|
|
|
|
BASE
|
|
Show details
|
|
|
|
|
