Project Leadership in Becoming: A Process Study of an Organizational Change Project

Abstract

Drawing on the current research in general leadership, we propose that a process ontology is relevant and rewarding for project leadership studies. We argue that project leadership can be studied as the ongoing social production of direction through the construction of actors’ space of action, involving continuous construction and reconstruction of (1) past project activities and events; (2) positions and areas of responsibility; (3) discarded, ongoing, and future issues; and (4) intensity, rhythm, and pace. Through an ethnographic case study of an organizational change project, we show how space of action and hence the project direction are in constant flux and becoming.

Towards a Three‐Component Model of Relational Social Constructionist Leadership: A Systematic Review and Critical Interpretive Synthesis

“…Hay and Hodgkinson (, p. 146) suggested a more pluralistic ‘process‐relational’ understanding of leadership (see also Packendorff et al . ). Similarly, Crevani et al .…”

“…; Packendorff et al . ). Methodological demands on the study of leadership . Many of the studies included in this review made methodological contributions, in particular the early work (e.g.…”

“…; Hosking ; Packendorff et al . ), and focuses on interactions, interdependencies and relations. There is a clear emphasis on context and the dynamics of leadership practices, an understanding that opposes the ‘strong tendency’ of traditional or mainstream leadership ‘to put the leader at centre‐stage’ (Holmberg and Tyrstrup , p. 354). Challenging the competency paradigm .…”

Balanced Leadership

“…This approach disassociates leadership from distinct individuals, instead studying how leadership work is unfolding and practiced -thus locating leadership as something that emerges in interactions between team members rather than being exercised by these members. In a relational leadership view from an organizational perspective (Uhl-Bien 2006; 655) leadership is not viewed as a hierarchical position but 'as a process as relational dynamics throughout the organization' Such a relational view in projects would be concerned with how well interactions in a project team unfold, that is, to what extent issues, identities, time frames and spaces of action are thoroughly processed and understood in the team (Lindgren & Packendorff, 2011;Packendorff et al, 2014).…”

“…In the studies made by Lindgren & Packendorff (2011) and Packendorff et al (2014) it appeared that several individuals, both inside and outside the companies, involved themselves in the ongoing construction of project direction. Instead of viewing, for example, changed technical priorities, agreements with inspection authorities or the division of duties at laboratories as formal decisions made by the project leader, far more complex interactions leading up to these decisions could be acknowledged in terms of leadership.…”