Alternative leadership and the pitfalls of hierarchy: When formalization enables power to be tamed

Maud Grégoire, Guillaume Delalieux and Pauline Fatien ()
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Maud Grégoire: IEP Lille - Sciences Po Lille - Institut d'études politiques de Lille, CERAPS - Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Administratives, Politiques et Sociales - UMR 8026 - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Guillaume Delalieux: ULR - La Rochelle Université, EOLE - Environnement Organisation LEgislation (ex LITHORAL, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Territoire Histoire Organisation RégulAtion Loi) - ULR - La Rochelle Université
Pauline Fatien: GEM Recherche - EESC-GEM Grenoble Ecole de Management

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Abstract: Hierarchy is a keybut under-studiedlens for critically exploring leadership. The critical literature suggests that both mainstream and alternative leadership contribute to the perpetuation of hierarchy. In mainstream leadership, even in its most recent forms in allegedly 'flattened' organizations, hierarchy continues to exist and followers often remain disempowered. In alternative leadership, which occurs for instance in non-hierarchical organizations, an unofficial hierarchy tends to persist: even when leadership is rejected, it is enacted in less-formalized forms, resulting in the tyranny of structurelessness and the undermining of horizontal democratic practices. Our research therefore explores whether and how alternative leadership can be practiced in such a way that it avoids the pitfalls of formal or informal hierarchy. We conducted an in-depth case study of a nonhierarchical group of freelancers, combining 140h of participant observation, 15 semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis. Our research shows that it is possible to practice alternative leadership in a way that avoids the pitfalls of hierarchy and that this happens through the formalization of leadership. Leadership formalization allows power to be tamed by making it visible but it also involves some tensions.

Keywords: Hierarchy; anarchism; case study; formalization; power (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-09-22
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Published in Leadership, 2022, 18 (6), pp.729-753. ⟨10.1177/17427150221128358⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03797129

DOI: 10.1177/17427150221128358

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