Critical Perspectives on Leadership: Emotion, Toxicity, and Dysfunction(New Horizons in Leadership Studies series)

This book offers a critique of the field of leadership studies, focusing on the dynamics between post-heroic leadership and the notion of functional and dysfunctional emotions. Situated in the field of critical leadership studies, the chapters of this book set out to challenge the general assumption that emotionality is the antithesis of rationality. The authors expand upon the existing discussions of leadership emotions and reveal how toxicity and dysfunctionality are not merely simple, negatively coercive, or repressive phenomena, but can also have productive and enabling connotations. The book includes comprehensive overviews of traditional leadership thinking and in addition provides readers with critical reflections on concepts such as ignorance, authenticity, functional stupidity and vanity in leadership. As the book presents a series of critical perspectives on how emotions can be theorized in leadership studies, it is suitable for advanced courses in the subject, as well as being a highly interesting monograph for academics in the field. Contributors: M. Alvesson, Y.D. Billing, N. Harter, C. Howard, E.L. Jeanes, J. Lemmergaard, S.L. Muhr, A. Paulsson, A. Rehn, S. Schaefer, A. Spicer, S. Spoelstra, M. Walton

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface PART I: LEADERSHIP MOMENTS 1. Broadening the Critical Leadership Repertoire: Emotions, Toxicity and Dysfunctionality Jeanette Lemmergaard and Sara Louise Muhr PART II: LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR IN PRACTICE 2. Introduction to Part II Jeanette Lemmergaard and Sara Louise Muhr 3. The Rottweiler and the Flying Penguin: ‘Peacock Power’ in the Workplace Michael Walton 4. Do it My Way: A Study on Type, Leadership and Emotions Jeanette Lemmergaard and Clare Howard 5. Leadership in a Family Business: Kinship and Emotional Control Emma L. Jeanes 6. The Emotional Rollercoaster: Leadership of Innovation and the Dialectical Relationship between Negative and Positive Emotions Stephan Schaefer and Alexander Paulsson 7. Happily Working Until they Drop: When There is no Longer a Balance between Stress and Fun – A Task for Leadership Yvonne Due Billing PART III: THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS 8. Introduction to Part III Jeanette Lemmergaard and Sara Louise Muhr 9. Socrates’ Mission Against Reproachable Ignorance: Leaders who Refuse to Acknowledge their Ignorance and Instead Suppress Criticism Nathan Harter 10. Leadership Studies: Out of Business Sverre Spoelstra 11. Does Leadership Create Stupidity? Mats Alvesson and André Spicer 12. Vain and Vainglorious Leaders? Alf Rehn Index

About the Author :
Edited by Jeanette Lemmergaard, Vice Rector, IBA international Business Academy and Sara Louise Muhr, Associate Professor of Organization Studies and Human Resource Management, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Review :
'All too frequently leadership is depicted as an unequivocal 'good'. Lemmergaard and Muhr's excellent collection disabuses us of this misleading view, serving as a timely and salutary reminder that leadership is often emotionally charged, toxic, dysfunctional or downright stupid. This book's critical message should be read and heeded by students and practitioners of leadership alike.' --Peter Case, James Cook University, Australia'The book provides a rich kaleidoscope of critical engagements with leadership in all its complexity and ambiguity. The contributors to this collection do not deny the vital role that leadership can play nor the many ways in which it can affect the emotional dynamics of organizations for good and bad. What they do is to shift thinking away from the comforting but misleading simplicities of toxic leaders and inert followers, offering a welcome tonic to the critical study of leadership. The book will appeal to leadership scholars as well as to students and to reflective practitioners.' --Yiannis Gabriel, University of Bath, UK