This article introduces readers to a new approach to leadership that has come on the scene in recent years, and it is called “Leadership-as-Practice.” As an offshoot of the so-called “practice turn” in the social sciences, referring to the study of everyday activities, it challenges some...

The practice perspective of leadership de-emphasizes purpose and rather recognizes pre-reflective forms of intentionality carried out in embodied practices that may be subsequently guided by democratic, emancipatory, and reflexive processes. Although leadership-as-practice should be classified...

This article explores the mythology of leadership as residing in particular individuals. It argues that given the complex requirements of 21st Century management, we can no longer allow the rest of the organization, other than its managers, to sit idly awaiting orders from detached bosses. It...

Fearing that our overreliance on an individual, heroic model of leadership will only continue to dampen the energy and creativity of people in our organizations and communities, this essay proposes a practice perspective of leadership based on a collaborative agency mobilized through engaged...

In this essay the author through a curation of articles drawn largely from the archives of the Academy of Management guides readers through the early foundations, principles, and theory of the new field of leadership-as-practice or L-A-P. The field is shown to have evolved through a history of...

This article explains why leadership-as-practice development (LAPD) is a preferred leadership development approach in the contemporary digital era. Rather than dwelling on generic leader competencies that may not apply to the setting, learning is brought into “lived” (not simulated)...

Mensch and Barge in their interpretation of Alasdair MacIntyre's critique of genealogical ethics as a basis of ethical weakness in the emerging field of “leadership-as-practice,” suggest that L-A-P is lacking in ethical grounding especially because of its relativist philosophy. I address...

This article and its commentaries shed light on reflective practice, a reflection of past experiences to ponder the meaning of what has recently transpired to one's self and others in the immediate environment. It incorporates a rationale for reflective practice; strategies to encourage...

Can the teaching of leadership transform practice? What concepts and modalities are best suited to do so? This paper builds on Meyer and Land’s (2003) theory of threshold concepts to examine how students learn and experience leadership as a complex and multi-faceted practice. Threshold...

Consistent with views that see leadership emerging from social practices rather than from the external mind, this paper contributes to an emerging movement in leadership studies known as “leadership-as-practice” (L-A-P). This movement looks for leadership in its music and activity rather...