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Gendering Leadership

In: Leadership as Identity

Author

Listed:
  • Jackie Ford
  • Nancy Harding
  • Mark Learmonth

Abstract

Our explorations have shown that the words ‘leader’ and ‘leadership’ bring those very things into being in that they provide an identity, or a way of being a self, for the people charged with the tasks of leadership. In Chapter 5 we queered those terms to show that the ‘Great Man’ and charismatic theories live on, and therefore becoming a leader is a task that is impossible to achieve, so out-of-reach are the norms of leadership. We also posed the problem of how leadership relies on the subordination of followers. In this chapter, we draw on a study of leadership in a local authority, a council we call Woolbury, to show the impact of the norms of leadership on leaders. The research on which this chapter is based found that managers in the organisation suffered from a great deal of anxiety (Ford, 2007). In this chapter we discuss some of the causes of this anxiety, notably how a ‘macho’ management culture battles with aspirations towards a ‘gentler’ post-heroic, or transformational, leadership culture, with the battle played out in the psyches of the leaders involved. The outcome is that leadership is a function fraught with anxiety.

Suggested Citation

  • Jackie Ford & Nancy Harding & Mark Learmonth, 2008. "Gendering Leadership," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Leadership as Identity, chapter 6, pages 116-138, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-58418-1_6
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230584181_6
    as

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