The power of positioning: How leadership work unfolds in team interactions

Abstract

Drawing on literature conceptualising leadership as a discursive accomplishment, this paper defines leadership as leadership work: a process unfolding through talk, and depending on a unique dynamic among the resources that participants bring to an interaction, and the ability of the participants to creatively mobilise these resources to perform the task at hand. Leadership work can be understood through the analysis of how individuals position themselves and others in an interaction. Data from an ethnographic study of an academic research team support our arguments. The paper contributes to the literature on leadership as a process by demonstrating that positioning is not only necessary for leadership to unfold, but it also allows a more nuanced analysis of leadership work, by opening researchers' eyes to the variety of resources involved in this process.

The negotiation of sharing leadership in the context of professional hierarchy: Interactions on interprofessional teams

“…In particular, our analysis suggests the importance of taking close account of the leadership work that takes place prior to decision making as it can influence the decisions that are ultimately made. However, this work may not be accounted for in studies that rely on surveys and interviews (Meschitti, 2019).…”

“…Lingard et al (2012) showed how physicians, who are traditionally seen at the apex of the professional hierarchy, can make efforts to encourage collective leadership by using inclusive language such as the pronoun "we," by considering the pertinence of different expertise to case discussions, and by using team members' first names; however, decision making ultimately remained in physicians' hands. The use of these interactional strategies is influenced by the emergent and structural interactional resources (Meschitti, 2019) on which members may draw, for instance humor, one's position in the hierarchy, or a claim to expert knowledge.…”

“…This again positions her as vertical leader having a right to speak for all. More specifically, by mobilizing as an emergent resource (Meschitti, 2019) SW-1's previous utterance about her availability for cases in the North, MD-Psy claims that SW-1 does not have the right to participate in the knowledge work because it is not in her jurisdiction.…”

“…."). Furthermore, she mobilizes a specific structural resource (Meschitti, 2019)-her superior organizational experience with the hospital-to position herself as more knowledgeable and therefore as having greater epistemic entitlement (i.e. having the right to display a state of knowledge in the interaction, Clifton, 2012) to interpret the situation (i.e.…”

Accomplishing leadership-in-interaction by mobilizing available information and communication technology objects in a virtual context

“…Through close analysis of interactional data, Van de Mieroop et al 2020show that leadership is negotiated in subtle ways through talk, gaze, the use of space, artifacts, and so on. Further, although not studying objects as such, Meschitti (2019) argues that "(i)ndexicality and the negotiation around objects (such as the formula on the board) are also central in leadership work" (p. 17). Outside of the field of leadership, however, studies have demonstrated the relevance of focusing on objects in terms of understanding social phenomena such as sensemaking (Mondada, 2011), coordination (LeBaron et al, 2016, or strategizing (Samra-Fredericks, 2010).…”