Doing leadership-as-practice development

Leadership development, wicked problems and action learning: provocations to a debate

“…A reviewer's comment on the second draft of this paper provided a useful case study of action learning being used on a leadership development programme in a housing association to develop organisational leadership as well as individual leaders(Denyer & Turnbull James 2016). Though beyond our current reach, these possibilities suggest directions for further inquiry.…”

Becoming green, becoming leaders: Identity narratives in sustainability leadership development

“…While we have critiqued the dominance of heroism in discourses of sustainability leadership, the critical constructionist literature has begun to sketch, at least conceptually, what alternative forms of sustainability leadership and leadership development might look like, thus offering important insights into the realm of possibility that lies in looking beyond individualist conceptions of leadership in the field of sustainability (Allen et al, 2017; Denyer and James, 2016; Kurusz et al, 2014; Raelin 2011).…”

Mapping the aesthetics of leadership development through participant perspectives

“…The two discursive forms adopted as analytical foci speak strongly to core assumptions held in constructionist perspectives of development. One assumption is that ‘a move away from traditional leadership has emotional costs’ (Denyer and Turnbull James, 2016: 278) and consequently leadership development in this vein involves facilitating participants’ sensemaking of their ‘emotional knowledge’ (Sturdy et al, 2006: 845), which is often achieved through imagery and metaphor. After all, leadership development that asks participants to challenge core assumptions, break existing patterns and grapple with intense identity work has a necessarily affective and imagistic quality.…”