This study seeks to better understand how notions of sovereign power as a response to terrorism a... more This study seeks to better understand how notions of sovereign power as a response to terrorism are built and bolstered through use of the signifier ‘leadership’. Through a post-foundational analysis of the speeches, press conferences and writings of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, we theorise ‘sovereign leadership’ as the deployment of the signifier leadership in ways that foreclose language so as to normalise the discourse and acts of sovereign power. Our key finding is that sovereign leadership offers a (misleadingly) straightforward solution to the complex problem of terrorism through foreclosing language so that alternative responses are excluded. In exploring articulations of sovereign leadership, we illuminate its contingency, and therefore, also its contestability, within a system of discursive resources. We posit three foreclosing moments that are drawn upon to bolster the urgency, affective salience and justness of sovereign leadership: emergency, positivity and vulne...
The British area bombing of Germany in the Second World War has provided for enduring ethical con... more The British area bombing of Germany in the Second World War has provided for enduring ethical controversy. Eschewing conventional approaches, we present area bombing as a Dirty Hands leadership response to the Wicked Problem of Britain’s wartime strategic predicament. Using historical methodology, we establish two distinct phases in area bombing: 1942–1944, when this was ethically contentious but politically necessary; and 1944–1945, which lacks a Dirty Hands legitimation. The second phase follows upon a six-month lull in area bombing during Bomber Command’s assignment to Overlord (D-Day) duties. It is characterised by credible alternatives to area bombing, a waning sense of proportionality in Bomber Command activity, and intensifying death and destruction without justifiable purpose. We relate the breaching of the boundaries of Dirty Hands in Phase II to a precise date – September 1944. This coincides with the mutation of the strategic Wicked Problem into a Critical Problem, visibl...
This paper is about the relationship between leadership, organisational morals, and temporality. ... more This paper is about the relationship between leadership, organisational morals, and temporality. We argue that engaging with questions of time and temporality may help us overcome the overly agentic view of organisational morals and leadership ethics that dominates extant literature. Our analysis of the role of time in organizational morals and leadership ethics starts from a virtue-based approach to leading large-scale moral endeavours. We ask: how can we account for organizational morality across generations and independently of the leader? To address this question, we studied the leadership model of the Jesuits, a Catholic Religious Order. Our case reveals that a virtue-based model of leadership does not necessarily imply that those who are selected to lead the organization are themselves virtuous, but that the processes underpinning the exercise of leadership are cyclical and repeated as truthfully as possible. Virtuous leadership, for the Jesuits, is therefore about the constru...
Reading a e-book can be one of a lot of exercise that everyone in the world loves. Do you like re... more Reading a e-book can be one of a lot of exercise that everyone in the world loves. Do you like reading book and so. There are a lot of reasons why people fantastic. First reading a e-book will give you a lot of new data. When you read a publication you will get new information since book is one of a number of ways to share the information or perhaps their idea. Second, studying a book will make an individual more imaginative. When you looking at a book especially fiction book the author will bring you to definitely imagine the story how the characters do it anything. Third, you are able to share your knowledge to other folks. When you read this Management: A Sociological Introduction, you can tells your family, friends in addition to soon about yours reserve. Your knowledge can inspire others, make them reading a book.
Current research on political leadership draws attention to its contested and stretched character... more Current research on political leadership draws attention to its contested and stretched characteristics. We conceptualise this milieu as representing the terrain for the identity work of political leaders, and the space generated for political leadership. This paper adopts a narrative analysis of ethnographic and in-depth interview data to map out the degrees of freedom (the leadership space) of political leaders. We seek to explore ways in which the space for political leadership is both opened up and closed down, and ask what this might tell us about possibilities for political leadership in the future.
The collaborative phenomenon Collaborative leadership has become an increasingly influential para... more The collaborative phenomenon Collaborative leadership has become an increasingly influential paradigm of thinking within leadership studies, with the idea gaining interest amongst both scholars and practitioners (Bolden, 2012; Grint and Holt, 2011; O'Reilly and Reed, 2012). Pitched as a solution to ever more complex, even intractable, global and social problems, such as global warming, changing global political power dynamics and the financial crisis experienced in western democratic nation states, collaborative leadership is offered as a means of generating more imaginative and sustainable solutions across established organizational and political boundaries (Benington and Moore, 2010). Shifting terrain within major global economic and political issues, the argument goes, necessitates that managers, political leaders and citizens conceptualise leadership differently. Can we therefore assume that there are plenty of live examples of collaborative leadership on the move within organizations and social movements? A body of practical experience developing alongside collaborative leadership philosophising? In reality it seems as though writing about the idea of collaborative leadership has overtaken the extent of its practice (Grint, 2010). What we are experiencing, rather than everyday collaborative leadership practice, is a collaborative zeal within the literature.
The paper discusses 21 days of political leadership in the UK following the EU referendum, the pu... more The paper discusses 21 days of political leadership in the UK following the EU referendum, the publication of the Chilcot Report on the Iraq War, and the appointment of a new cabinet by the new Prime Minister, Theresa May. It begins by modelling four possible approaches to political decision-making by taking into account the intent of the decision-maker, their acceptance or avoidance of responsibility, and the nature of the consequences. It suggests that ‘Dirty Hands’ exists when the decision-maker recognizes the deleterious consequences of what they deem to be necessary action – and intends to engender these – but takes responsibility. ‘Clean Heels’ embodies a decision where the decision-maker recognizes the consequences might be deleterious and intends them to be so, but avoids all responsibility. Mea Culpa describes a decision-maker who did not intend deleterious consequences but having seen them occur takes responsibility. Finally, the Spectator is someone who has no intention o...
Business School in New Zealand. His research interests include exploring the relationship between... more Business School in New Zealand. His research interests include exploring the relationship between governance and leadership processes, analysing the visual representation of leadership and developing a geographic understanding of leadership.
This chapter covers mutinies which occur during the most dangerous times for the establishment: u... more This chapter covers mutinies which occur during the most dangerous times for the establishment: under conditions of war. Theoretically, any collective dissent from a legal order in a military organization is mutiny, and the events over Christmas 1914 along the Western Front in France and Belgium precisely capture this tension, with some calling it a ‘truce’ and others categorically calling it a mutiny—thus ensuring it is not repeated the following Christmas. Next we consider the Russian mutiny of 1917 that, unlike the Potemkin mutiny, occurs in a febrile national context with significant support from the political left. Some of the reverberations of Russia end up in France in 1917, straight after the failed Nivelle offensive, and this also reveals the significance of dashed expectations, as well as the dire consequences of the French state’s response. Within a year the German Navy is convulsed by similar issues, the first time it is crushed because the conditions are inadequate, but...
The Covid-19 pandemic that swept through the world in late 2019 and through 2020 provides a test ... more The Covid-19 pandemic that swept through the world in late 2019 and through 2020 provides a test not just for all societies and their leadership, but for leadership theory. In a world turned upside down, when many conventions are disposed of, it is clear that things will not return to the status quo ante any time soon, if ever. In the light of these challenges, this short paper suggests we might reconsider the way governments and their leaders act against the frame of societal problems, originally established by Rittell and Webber in 1973. I suggest that all three modes of decision-making (Leadership, management and command) are necessary because of the complex and complicated nature of the problem and conclude that while Command is appropriate for certain times and issues, it also poses long-term threats, especially if the context is ignored.
Mutiny is often regarded as a consequence of dire conditions and failed leadership. This reflecti... more Mutiny is often regarded as a consequence of dire conditions and failed leadership. This reflection on Ken Parry's work suggests it is neither and much more the consequences of a socially constructed world.
'romance of leadership' thesis and extends these ideas in a number of inter-related ways. First, ... more 'romance of leadership' thesis and extends these ideas in a number of inter-related ways. First, it argues that the thesis has sometimes been neglected and/or misinterpreted in subsequent studies. Second, the paper suggests that romanticism is a much broader and more historically rich term with wider implications for leadership studies than originally proposed. Arguing that romanticism stretches beyond leader attribution, we connect leadership theory to a more enduring and naturalistic tradition of romantic thought that has survived and evolved since the mid-18th century. Third, the paper demonstrates the contemporary relevance of the romanticism critique. It reveals how the study of leadership continues to be characterised by romanticising tendencies in many of its most influential theories, illustrating this argument with reference to spiritual and authentic leadership theories, which only recognise positive engagement with leaders. Equally, the paper suggests that romanticism can shape conceptions not only of leaders, but also of followers, their agency, and their (potential for) resistance. We conclude by discussing future possible research directions for the romanticism critique that extend well beyond its original focus on leader attribution to inform a broader critical approach to leadership studies.
This study seeks to better understand how notions of sovereign power as a response to terrorism a... more This study seeks to better understand how notions of sovereign power as a response to terrorism are built and bolstered through use of the signifier ‘leadership’. Through a post-foundational analysis of the speeches, press conferences and writings of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, we theorise ‘sovereign leadership’ as the deployment of the signifier leadership in ways that foreclose language so as to normalise the discourse and acts of sovereign power. Our key finding is that sovereign leadership offers a (misleadingly) straightforward solution to the complex problem of terrorism through foreclosing language so that alternative responses are excluded. In exploring articulations of sovereign leadership, we illuminate its contingency, and therefore, also its contestability, within a system of discursive resources. We posit three foreclosing moments that are drawn upon to bolster the urgency, affective salience and justness of sovereign leadership: emergency, positivity and vulne...
The British area bombing of Germany in the Second World War has provided for enduring ethical con... more The British area bombing of Germany in the Second World War has provided for enduring ethical controversy. Eschewing conventional approaches, we present area bombing as a Dirty Hands leadership response to the Wicked Problem of Britain’s wartime strategic predicament. Using historical methodology, we establish two distinct phases in area bombing: 1942–1944, when this was ethically contentious but politically necessary; and 1944–1945, which lacks a Dirty Hands legitimation. The second phase follows upon a six-month lull in area bombing during Bomber Command’s assignment to Overlord (D-Day) duties. It is characterised by credible alternatives to area bombing, a waning sense of proportionality in Bomber Command activity, and intensifying death and destruction without justifiable purpose. We relate the breaching of the boundaries of Dirty Hands in Phase II to a precise date – September 1944. This coincides with the mutation of the strategic Wicked Problem into a Critical Problem, visibl...
This paper is about the relationship between leadership, organisational morals, and temporality. ... more This paper is about the relationship between leadership, organisational morals, and temporality. We argue that engaging with questions of time and temporality may help us overcome the overly agentic view of organisational morals and leadership ethics that dominates extant literature. Our analysis of the role of time in organizational morals and leadership ethics starts from a virtue-based approach to leading large-scale moral endeavours. We ask: how can we account for organizational morality across generations and independently of the leader? To address this question, we studied the leadership model of the Jesuits, a Catholic Religious Order. Our case reveals that a virtue-based model of leadership does not necessarily imply that those who are selected to lead the organization are themselves virtuous, but that the processes underpinning the exercise of leadership are cyclical and repeated as truthfully as possible. Virtuous leadership, for the Jesuits, is therefore about the constru...
Reading a e-book can be one of a lot of exercise that everyone in the world loves. Do you like re... more Reading a e-book can be one of a lot of exercise that everyone in the world loves. Do you like reading book and so. There are a lot of reasons why people fantastic. First reading a e-book will give you a lot of new data. When you read a publication you will get new information since book is one of a number of ways to share the information or perhaps their idea. Second, studying a book will make an individual more imaginative. When you looking at a book especially fiction book the author will bring you to definitely imagine the story how the characters do it anything. Third, you are able to share your knowledge to other folks. When you read this Management: A Sociological Introduction, you can tells your family, friends in addition to soon about yours reserve. Your knowledge can inspire others, make them reading a book.
Current research on political leadership draws attention to its contested and stretched character... more Current research on political leadership draws attention to its contested and stretched characteristics. We conceptualise this milieu as representing the terrain for the identity work of political leaders, and the space generated for political leadership. This paper adopts a narrative analysis of ethnographic and in-depth interview data to map out the degrees of freedom (the leadership space) of political leaders. We seek to explore ways in which the space for political leadership is both opened up and closed down, and ask what this might tell us about possibilities for political leadership in the future.
The collaborative phenomenon Collaborative leadership has become an increasingly influential para... more The collaborative phenomenon Collaborative leadership has become an increasingly influential paradigm of thinking within leadership studies, with the idea gaining interest amongst both scholars and practitioners (Bolden, 2012; Grint and Holt, 2011; O'Reilly and Reed, 2012). Pitched as a solution to ever more complex, even intractable, global and social problems, such as global warming, changing global political power dynamics and the financial crisis experienced in western democratic nation states, collaborative leadership is offered as a means of generating more imaginative and sustainable solutions across established organizational and political boundaries (Benington and Moore, 2010). Shifting terrain within major global economic and political issues, the argument goes, necessitates that managers, political leaders and citizens conceptualise leadership differently. Can we therefore assume that there are plenty of live examples of collaborative leadership on the move within organizations and social movements? A body of practical experience developing alongside collaborative leadership philosophising? In reality it seems as though writing about the idea of collaborative leadership has overtaken the extent of its practice (Grint, 2010). What we are experiencing, rather than everyday collaborative leadership practice, is a collaborative zeal within the literature.
The paper discusses 21 days of political leadership in the UK following the EU referendum, the pu... more The paper discusses 21 days of political leadership in the UK following the EU referendum, the publication of the Chilcot Report on the Iraq War, and the appointment of a new cabinet by the new Prime Minister, Theresa May. It begins by modelling four possible approaches to political decision-making by taking into account the intent of the decision-maker, their acceptance or avoidance of responsibility, and the nature of the consequences. It suggests that ‘Dirty Hands’ exists when the decision-maker recognizes the deleterious consequences of what they deem to be necessary action – and intends to engender these – but takes responsibility. ‘Clean Heels’ embodies a decision where the decision-maker recognizes the consequences might be deleterious and intends them to be so, but avoids all responsibility. Mea Culpa describes a decision-maker who did not intend deleterious consequences but having seen them occur takes responsibility. Finally, the Spectator is someone who has no intention o...
Business School in New Zealand. His research interests include exploring the relationship between... more Business School in New Zealand. His research interests include exploring the relationship between governance and leadership processes, analysing the visual representation of leadership and developing a geographic understanding of leadership.
This chapter covers mutinies which occur during the most dangerous times for the establishment: u... more This chapter covers mutinies which occur during the most dangerous times for the establishment: under conditions of war. Theoretically, any collective dissent from a legal order in a military organization is mutiny, and the events over Christmas 1914 along the Western Front in France and Belgium precisely capture this tension, with some calling it a ‘truce’ and others categorically calling it a mutiny—thus ensuring it is not repeated the following Christmas. Next we consider the Russian mutiny of 1917 that, unlike the Potemkin mutiny, occurs in a febrile national context with significant support from the political left. Some of the reverberations of Russia end up in France in 1917, straight after the failed Nivelle offensive, and this also reveals the significance of dashed expectations, as well as the dire consequences of the French state’s response. Within a year the German Navy is convulsed by similar issues, the first time it is crushed because the conditions are inadequate, but...
The Covid-19 pandemic that swept through the world in late 2019 and through 2020 provides a test ... more The Covid-19 pandemic that swept through the world in late 2019 and through 2020 provides a test not just for all societies and their leadership, but for leadership theory. In a world turned upside down, when many conventions are disposed of, it is clear that things will not return to the status quo ante any time soon, if ever. In the light of these challenges, this short paper suggests we might reconsider the way governments and their leaders act against the frame of societal problems, originally established by Rittell and Webber in 1973. I suggest that all three modes of decision-making (Leadership, management and command) are necessary because of the complex and complicated nature of the problem and conclude that while Command is appropriate for certain times and issues, it also poses long-term threats, especially if the context is ignored.
Mutiny is often regarded as a consequence of dire conditions and failed leadership. This reflecti... more Mutiny is often regarded as a consequence of dire conditions and failed leadership. This reflection on Ken Parry's work suggests it is neither and much more the consequences of a socially constructed world.
'romance of leadership' thesis and extends these ideas in a number of inter-related ways. First, ... more 'romance of leadership' thesis and extends these ideas in a number of inter-related ways. First, it argues that the thesis has sometimes been neglected and/or misinterpreted in subsequent studies. Second, the paper suggests that romanticism is a much broader and more historically rich term with wider implications for leadership studies than originally proposed. Arguing that romanticism stretches beyond leader attribution, we connect leadership theory to a more enduring and naturalistic tradition of romantic thought that has survived and evolved since the mid-18th century. Third, the paper demonstrates the contemporary relevance of the romanticism critique. It reveals how the study of leadership continues to be characterised by romanticising tendencies in many of its most influential theories, illustrating this argument with reference to spiritual and authentic leadership theories, which only recognise positive engagement with leaders. Equally, the paper suggests that romanticism can shape conceptions not only of leaders, but also of followers, their agency, and their (potential for) resistance. We conclude by discussing future possible research directions for the romanticism critique that extend well beyond its original focus on leader attribution to inform a broader critical approach to leadership studies.
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Papers by Keith Grint