This thesis outlines a personal attempt to explore leadership in a holistic manner that recognises the contribution of both individuals and the collective whilst remaining sensitive to contextual factors. It endeavours to do this through presentation, analysis and discussion of two empirical studies of leadership, informed by distributed and practice perspectives, which regard leadership as a shared and contextually situated social process. The thesis begins with an overview of leadership theory and research, proposing that the time is right for a reframing of the field of leadership studies in order to redress the balance accorded to individual and collective accounts of leadership; review how we recognise, reward and develop leadership; and revisit our methodologies and approaches to leadership enquiry. The first empirical study investigates perceptions and experiences of leadership in the UK higher education sector, proposing that whilst leadership may be considered as widely dispersed, the notion of ‘distributed leadership’ also carries a powerful rhetorical function that may mask an uneven distribution of power, resources and rewards. The second empirical study explores the notion of ‘leadership-as-practice’ in three large, complex organisations outside the HE sector, and reveals the significant impact of discourse and sensemaking in shaping perceptions, experiences and the accomplishment of leadership for middle-senior level operational managers. The discussion chapter draws together the various themes explored in the thesis, in particular demonstrating the significance of issues of discourse, identity and purpose in making sense of the elusive nature of leadership practice. It is argued that a holistic representation of leadership remains difficult to achieve because of the manner in which grand Discourses and micro-level discourses of leadership interact to attribute the social process of leadership to the actions of individual leaders. The thesis concludes with a series of recommendations that highlight the value of a somewhat eclectic approach to leadership theory, research, practice and development that facilitates the emergence and recognition of contextually-appropriate ‘hybrid configurations’ of leadership.

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Leadership in general is still perceived as individualistic, masculine and hierarchical. Despite fighting against discrimination and for social justice, third sector organizations are themselves often places of entrenched privilege and limited diversity. Leaders with lived experiences draw on their first-hand experience of social issues and/or injustices and attempt to tackle those problems through their work. They represent a diversity of backgrounds, experiences and capabilities that challenge the homogeneity of third sector leadership. Following critical leadership studies this thesis draws from the standpoints of lived experience leaders to offer new, intersectional perspectives on leadership and to expand and diversify understandings of what it is to lead in third sector organizations. The focus of this thesis’s exploration is the experiences and perceptions of 10 individuals who hold or have held leadership positions within third sector organizations in the UK and Germany. Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews, a phenomenology of lived experience leadership is explored. Drawing from feminist standpoint theory, attention is paid to what lived experience leaders think about leadership generally and lived experience leadership in particular, as well as their perspectives on the systemic leadership structures they exist within and challenge. It is found that lived experience leaders acknowledge ‘traditional,’ ‘mainstream’ concepts of leadership and see their own leadership styles and approaches as distinct from these leadership norms. Their approaches and understandings challenge typical leadership constructions and, strongly influenced by their own lived experiences, promote political self-organization, activism and a socio-economic empowerment of people with lived experiences in order to unravel current social power structures and promote social change. With these key findings, the paper suggests further research to test and expand on the conclusions drawn. Ensuring that leadership positions are accessible to all should be a priority for future development of third sector organizations and beyond. Further research should therefore explore how lived experience leadership can help to gain insights about how to remove barriers to leadership positions efficiently.

[pt] Esta pesquisa discutiu a produção de liderança, nas práticas relacionais de uma organização do movimento estudantil brasileiro, na qual foi realizada uma etnometodologia situada em múltiplas localidades onde a organização atua. Desde o retorno do movimento de pós-graduação à cena pública brasileira, em 2019, nas manifestações que ficaram conhecidas como tsunami da educação, contra os cortes orçamentários das universidades federais, o sistema nacional de pós-graduação brasileiro enfrenta o contingenciamento constante de recursos e cortes orçamentários de programas e projetos, que incidem direta e imediatamente sobre a realidade de seus atores. Nesse contexto, organizações representativas de pós-graduação protagonizam um papel importante na produção de práticas de organização, que oferecem às ações de seus participantes um tipo de direcionalidade favorável ao atendimento de suas demandas: liderança. No entanto, pensar a liderança para além das organizações clássicas comuns aos setores privados da sociedade civil empresarial, de modo a conceber suas práticas em estruturas organizacionais informais e descentralizadas, onde a figura de líderes heroicos e individuais desvanece, ainda é um desafio para o campo de pesquisa do fenômeno. Também é desafiador pensar as práticas de liderança fora do pressuposto de alcance de objetivos instrumentais definidos para o bom funcionamento das organizações. Esses desafios, entretanto, não apontam para inexistência da liderança, mas para existência de práticas não empresariais/gerenciais de organização relacionadas ao fenômeno ainda pouco compreendidas em organizações de resistência e luta social. A análise etnometodológica destaca duas práticas de liderança produzidas nas interações entre os participantes da organização estudada. / [en] This research discussed the leadership production in the relational practices of a Brazilian student movement organization in which an ethnomethodology located in multiple locations where the organization operates was carried out. Since the return of the postgraduate movement to the Brazilian public scene in 2019 during the manifestations known as tsunami da educação, against the federal universities budget cuts, Brazilian national postgraduate system face the constant contingency of resources and budget cuts for programs and projects which direct and immediately affect the reality of their actors. In this scenario, postgraduate representative organizations play an important role in producing organizing practices that offer to the actions of their participants a type of directionality favorable to the resolution of their demands: leadership. However, it is still a challenge for the field to think about leadership beyond the classic organizations usually found in private sectors of business-civil society, so as to conceive their practices in informal and decentralized organizational structures, where the figure of heroic and individual leaders fades. It is also challenging to think about leadership practices outside the assumption of achieving instrumental goals defined for the proper functioning of organizations. These challenges, nonetheless, do not indicate the non-existence of leadership, but the existence of non business/managerial organizing practices related to the phenomenon that are still poorly understood in resistance and social struggle organizations. The ethnomethodological analysis highlights two leadership practices produced in the interactions between the participants of the studied organization.