Deconstructing Leadership: Engaging Leading through a Socially Constructed Process

Abstract

In this chapter, leadership is examined through a socially constructed process. Focus is directed at being able to engage alternative perspectives regarding leadership and a leader, and the significance of professional development in developing leaders' capabilities and characters. Through the lens of leading and leadership, an outline of understanding leadership as a construction is presented, by exploring the notion of leading as a dynamic contradictory and enigmatical construct within the leadership discourse generally and educational leadership in particular. While educational leadership has largely been topical over time, leading and leadership development within socially demanding contexts largely remains a path for deeper exploration. Moving through various levels to understand educational leadership better, the chapter channels attention on deconstruction of leadership through a socially constructed process, mainly focusing on leadership preparation and development for distinct contexts. There is a need to rethink the social dimension of leadership preparation and development to deepen the construction for the social process of leading effectively in education settings.