Managers Doing Leadership: The extra-ordinarization of the mundane

Mats Alvesson () and Stefan Sveningsson ()
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Mats Alvesson: Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Postal: Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Box 7080, SE-220 07 Lund, Sweden
Stefan Sveningsson: Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Postal: Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Box 7080, SE-220 07 Lund, Sweden

No 2003/5, Working Paper Series from Lund University, Institute of Economic Research

Abstract: Based on a case study of managers in a large, international knowledge-intensive company this paper suggests a rethinking of leadership, taking the mundane, almost trivial, aspects of what managers/leaders actually do seriously. In the study interviewed managers emphasized the importance of listening and informal chatting. Managers listening to subordinates are assumed to bring various positive effects, e.g. that people feel more respected, visible and less anonymous and included in teamwork. Rather than certain acts in themselves being significant, it is that managers are doing them that give them a special, emotional value beyond their everyday significance. Leadership is conceptualized as the extra-ordinarization of the mundane.

Keywords: Leadership; Management; Extra-ordinarization; Mundane; KIF (knowledge-intensive firms) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2003-08-25
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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