When Everyone and No One is a Leader: Constructing individual leadership identities while sustaining an organizational narrative of collective leadership

Abstract

Our paper investigates the dynamic interplay of narratives of individual and collective leadership within a professional service firm, where an organizational narrative of collective leadership prevails. We explain how it is possible for ‘everyone’ to claim a leadership identity for themselves while simultaneously granting a leadership identity to the collective. We identify multiple leadership archetypes embedded in individuals’ identity narratives, representing their differing senses of themselves as leaders and their alignment with the organizational narrative of collective leadership. These archetypes are mutually constitutive, representing centripetal and centrifugal tendencies in relation to the organizational narrative of collective leadership. We show how individuals committed to collective leadership nevertheless construct an individual leader (the Avatar identity archetype) to embody the collective on their behalf, and this enables them to grant leadership to the collective in the abstract. We emphasise the persistent sacralization of leadership in individual and organizational narratives, even in avowedly collectivist contexts, and the value of narrative-based perspectives in highlighting practitioners’ ability to navigate and accommodate the messy coexistence of collective and individual leadership. Our study shows the importance of integrating dialectically the individual and collective dimensions of leadership, emphasizing the mutually constitutive nature of individual and collective leadership narratives.

Organizing for Smart City Development: Research at the crossroads. Introduction to the Special Issue

“…Their work advances our understanding of the contextspecific nature of such collaborations and calls for collaborative models that can better represent real-world complexities. Aligning with the views of Thabit and Mora (2023) and those of Empson, Langley, and Sergi (2023), Dolmans et al (2023) emphasize the importance of considering the dynamic nature of collaborations and encourage studies to go beyond predefined configurations to explore the multifaceted realities that characterize cross-sector partnerships for smart city development.…”

“…Third, studying the complexities of cross-sector partnerships in smart city projects can help challenge and refine existing collaboration models and theories while expanding our current understanding of collaborative dynamics, leadership processes and the tangled relationships that shape partnership formation. Dolmans et al (2023) highlight the need to move beyond predefined configurations and consider the dynamic and context-specific nature of collaborations, echoing the findings of Empson et al (2023) on constructing individual leadership identities within the context of collective leadership.…”

“…The role of leadership (e.g. Day, Balogun, & Mayer, 2023; Empson et al, 2023; Levay & Andersson Bäck, 2022) in driving and managing smart city initiatives is another underexplored topic. Future research could focus on the leadership challenges and capabilities required to navigate the complexities of smart city organizing, including the ability to support collaboration, manage diverse stakeholder interests and address ethical and social concerns.…”

”Arbejdsfamilien” som arbejdsfællesskab – En teoretisk og empirisk analyse af postheroisk ledelse

“…It can be an act of heroism for managers to dare appear non-heroic to their surroundings. Empson, Langley & Sergi (2022) beskaeftiger sig tilsvarende med, hvordan ledere kan konstruere og haevde deres identitet som ledere inden for rammerne af et narrativ, der laegger vaegt på kollektivt lederskab. I artiklen udfolder vi ved hjaelp af vores case, hvordan denne spaending mellem det heroiske og det postheroiske ser ud i en konkret ledelsespraksis.…”