Preface

Leadership. Few words simultaneously elicit such a wide range of conflicting understandings and feelings. It is a concept that both provokes and appeases. It is both desired and detested. Indeed, the concept of leadership is almost impossible to escape in our contemporary context. Across nearly every form of media the terms leader and leadership are bandied about, sometimes as a clarion call for what is most absent and needed in society and other times as a harbinger of the most compelling of social ills.

Despite being almost omnipresent in contemporary discourse, an insignificant amount of time is directed toward unpacking what is really meant by the terms leader and leadership. We default to the assumption of a shared understanding despite clear evidence that we may be operating from different conceptualizations altogether. In our relationships, our communities, our places of worship, our work environments—in nearly every aspect of our lives—the theme of leadership is at play. And yet … to what extent do we invest in examining our assumptions, comparing our perspectives, and converging around a shared meaning?

The purpose of this book is to foster dialogue about how we understand, experience, and enact leader roles and leadership processes through the exploration of leadership theory. A remarkable gap exists between the knowledge generated from the formal, academic study of leadership and its translation into everyday practice. This is at least in part attributable to the ways in which the formal, academic literature on leadership reflects a “story most often told” or dominant narrative that is frequently disconnected from and/or incongruent with people's lived experiences. Thus, the focus of this book is not just on exploring the architecture that informs our understandings of leadership but also on cultivating the perspectives necessary to engage with theory as a critical learner.

WHAT THIS BOOK OFFERS

The marketplace for leadership education, training, and development is growing at an exponential rate. This is evidenced in the increasing number of academic programs, community seminars, and corporate training opportunities, many of which draw on a flourishing body of scholarship on leadership theory. Leadership theory represents a particularly important area for intervention given the foundations it provides for both research and practice.

There is no shortage of books distilling the content of leadership theory. This book, however, is unique in a number of compelling ways. It offers an alternative approach to learning leadership theory that is developmental in nature and grounded in critical perspectives.

That the book is developmental means its goal is not to expose readers to the most expansive breadth of theories possible or encourage rote memorization and regurgitation. Acquisition of knowledge on a broad range of theories is important, but the process of learning how to learn about leadership theory offers greater additive value. Therefore, the organization and content of the book focuses on building readers' capacities to meaningfully interpret, evaluate, and apply theory—a process that can then be replicated as new theories emerge as well as applied across bodies of knowledge beyond leadership.

Part of the developmental approach taken in this book involves the infusion of perspectives derived from critical social theory. Critical social theories are concerned with understanding the flow of power in society, how this contributes to social stratification, and ways in which we can create more democratic and equitable social arrangements. The use of critical perspectives is a direct response to scholarly calls for greater attention to issues of justice in leadership theory.

The developmental approach and integration of critical perspectives work in tandem to position readers as critical learners of leadership theory. Readers are situated as valid knowers in their own right and, through the deconstruction and reconstruction of theory, begin to craft their own theories of leadership. The goal is to build agency to transform and apply theory in ways that advance leadership that can make a meaningful difference in the world.

WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT

Sometimes it is easiest to understand the purpose and goals of a project through the articulation of what it is not. No book can serve the needs of all readers or cover all possible content. In fact, there lies a danger in trying to be everything to everyone. Too often this results in a watering down and oversimplification of content. As such, this book is guided by a number of delimitations that frame its design.

This Is Not an Exhaustive Examination of Leadership Theory

The goal of this book is to aid in building readers' capacities to engage with leadership theory as critical learners. To some degree, this means sacrificing breadth for depth in terms of coverage. Additionally, the book attempts to disrupt the “story most often told” in leadership theory. One of the ways in which this dominant narrative plays out is through the privileging of certain disciplines, content, and theories. Therefore, the metric for inclusion of theories in the book was the degree to which they shape or have the potential to shape formal and informal understandings of leadership across a wide array of disciplines. This means a number of well‐known theories were omitted, including psychodynamic approaches, charismatic leadership, and Fiedler's contingency model. This is not a statement of their relative value but a conscious decision made to create space for theories traditionally left out of leadership texts. Given the developmental and critical approach employed in the book, readers are encouraged to apply lessons learned to the examination of theories not included.

This Is Not a Book on Critical Social Theory

It merits explicit statement that this is not a book on critical social theory. This is a book on leadership theory. Concepts derived from critical social theories are employed as an interpretive lens to deepen the understanding of and ability to apply leadership theories. Therefore, I have attempted to synthesize large swaths of literature into three meta‐themes. However, significant debate, distinction, and unique perspectives across the varying strands of critical scholarship are lost in this process. Perhaps the best and safest framing is that the critical perspectives presented in this book should serve as nothing more than a catalyst to seek out the rich and expansive body of literature representing critical social theory.

This Is Not an Exhaustive Set of Critiques

Electing for depth over breadth means that an exhaustive set of critiques are not provided for each theory but general strengths and weaknesses instead. These critiques are varied to avoid redundancy as well as push readers to begin identifying strengths and weaknesses on their own. Additionally, Chapter 2 introduces a variety of tools of deconstruction and reconstruction to support the application of critical perspectives. Each chapter offers insights associated with just a single tool of deconstruction and reconstruction. This does not mean, however, that the others do not apply. My hope is that you will consider on your own how all of the tools of deconstruction and reconstruction relate to each theory as well as craft your own tools to supplement the ones I provided. Indeed, one of the most exciting products of the first edition of this book are the complex, imaginative, and incredibly useful tools of deconstruction and reconstruction being created by readers across the country. They contribute to a burgeoning lexicon and tool kit to accelerate impact in leadership research and practice. Again, this book is ideally designed to stimulate your own agency and efficacy as a critical learner.

SUMMARY OF CONTENT

This book is organized into three sections. The first section sets the stage for learning leadership theory. Chapter 1 introduces the architecture of leadership—mapping the essential elements that constitute a theory and insights into how to delineate among theories. It provides the grounding on which the rest of the book is built. Chapter 2 introduces three meta‐themes derived from critical social theory (i.e. stocks of knowledge, ideology/hegemony, and social location), along with a set of tools for deconstruction and reconstruction. The content of this chapter provides the interpretive lens for the rest of the book. Chapter 3 applies considerations from the architecture of leadership and critical perspectives to the “story most often told” in leadership theory. An alternative means for organizing theories is provided. Collectively, these three chapters are designed to begin developing readers' efficacy and capacity to engage with leadership theory as critical learners.

The core content of the book appears in the second section, which provides syntheses and analyses of 20 theories embedded within seven theoretical clusters. Chapters 4–10 employ a standardized format with three segments to ease the learning process:

1. Standard overview: Each individual theory is introduced through an overview of its core premises along with how it defines leadership. This is followed by a discussion of how the theory can be translated to practice...