The Language of Leadership Narratives: A Social Practice Perspective

Fascination with leadership and its relation to world events seems to be ever growing, and leadership narratives are a key element through which leader identities are constructed. Contemporary research into leadership tends to recycle the same old myths of the heroic white male leader. By looking at stories told by leaders in Australasia, Asia, North America, the Middle East, and Africa, this book explores different aspects of leadership narratives.

The Language of Leadership Narratives brings linguistics and leadership research together, showcasing different analytical and methodological approaches and enabling a more critical approach. Each chapter focuses on a specific area of leadership research, from dark leadership to gendered leadership. This book introduces the advantages of analysing leadership narratives as social practice and discusses some of the main themes in contemporary leadership research.

This volume is key reading for scholars and students of linguistics, communication studies, and business studies, and for those working in business and intercultural communication in the workplace.

Jonathan Clifton is an associate professor at the Université Polytechnique des Hauts-de-France and a member of the Groupe d’Études et de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Information et Communication (Geriico) at Lille University, France.

Stephanie Schnurr is an associate professor at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. She is the author of Leadership Discourse at Work (2009), Exploring Professional Communication (2013), and Language and Culture at Work (with Olga Zayts, 2017).

Dorien Van De Mieroop is an associate professor at KU Leuven, Belgium. She has published more than 30 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, authored a book with Jonathan Clifton (Master Narratives, Identities, and the Stories of Former Slaves, 2016), and edited a volume with Stephanie Schnurr (Identity Struggles, 2017).