A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Ghostbusters! On the Narrative Creation of (Absent) Leader Characters (2022)

Auvinen, T., Sajasalo, P., Sintonen, T., & Takala, T. (2022). Ghostbusters! On the Narrative Creation of (Absent) Leader Characters. In F. Hertel, A. Örtenblad, & K. Mølbjerg Jørgensen (Eds.), Debating Leaderless Management : Can Employees Do Without Leaders? (pp. 227-244). Palgrave Macmillan. Palgrave Debates in Business and Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04593-6_14

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Auvinen, Tommi; Sajasalo, Pasi; Sintonen, Teppo; Takala, Tuomo

Parent publication: Debating Leaderless Management : Can Employees Do Without Leaders?

Parent publication editors: Hertel, Frederik; Örtenblad, Anders; Mølbjerg Jørgensen, Kenneth

ISBN: 978-3-031-04592-9

eISBN: 978-3-031-04593-6

Journal or series: Palgrave Debates in Business and Management

ISSN: 2524-5082

eISSN: 2524-5090

Publication year: 2022

Pages range: 227-244

Number of pages in the book: 364

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Place of Publication: Cham

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04593-6_14

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: Channel is not openly available

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/85661

Abstract

We seek to “bust out” ghost leaders, narrated leader(ship) characters manifesting leadership influence, to discuss the inherent challenges related to leaderless management. By taking the non-corporeal aspect of leadership into account, we challenge the notion of leaderless management—which we argue has turned out to be more of an inspiring and empowering idea rather than a standing practice. We illustrate, with a Finnish high-tech organization, how organizational members narrate leader characters into existence in the non-corporeal realm during an organizational change to fill the void of a corporeal leader. While organizations may declare themselves to be leaderless, they, in fact, are not as such. According to our findings, a certain kind of leader always exists—the non-corporeal ghost leader. Thus, leaderless management is a myth.

Keywords: narration; leadership (properties); leadership (activity); organisational changes; managers and executives; supervisors; business management; human resource management

Free keywords: leaderless management; narration; leadership influence; ghost leader; non-corporeal; organizational change

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2022

JUFO rating: 3