Exploring the Realization of Moments of Leadership : A Methodological Approach
(2025) In Organization Studies 46(9). p.1307-1330- Abstract
- Post-heroic perspectives on leadership, which approach leadership as process, practice and a relational phenomenon, have shifted the theoretical understanding from individual characteristics to significant so-called moments of leadership, where direction emerges, and actions are re-oriented and organized. However, despite considerable theoretical development, research struggles to explore these processes in detail. Utilizing video and audio recordings, in this article, we present a systematic approach for analyzing the production and realization of moments of leadership as they happen. We propose a four-step procedure which combines an interpretative stance, guided by a sensitizing concept, with an ethnomethodologically inspired inductive... (More)
- Post-heroic perspectives on leadership, which approach leadership as process, practice and a relational phenomenon, have shifted the theoretical understanding from individual characteristics to significant so-called moments of leadership, where direction emerges, and actions are re-oriented and organized. However, despite considerable theoretical development, research struggles to explore these processes in detail. Utilizing video and audio recordings, in this article, we present a systematic approach for analyzing the production and realization of moments of leadership as they happen. We propose a four-step procedure which combines an interpretative stance, guided by a sensitizing concept, with an ethnomethodologically inspired inductive analysis of the subtle moves and mechanisms of the construction of social order in interaction. We illustrate the procedure using data from a study of high-risk military leadership, showing how deliberate shifts of analytical stance between the steps - from reliance on researcher sensemaking to a close focus on participants’ own sensemaking, and finally to theoretical interpretation - enable both a unique assessment of the phenomenological nature of sequences selected for close analysis and support the development of theoretical contributions. The approach presented in this article enables a deep exploration of the realization of moments of leadership, complementing the existing emphasis on consequences of such moments of leadership. Such a detailed analysis of the realization of leadership offers new possibilities for empirically well-grounded theoretical developments of relational and processual perspectives. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/f33f9941-1af2-4d06-b3f5-21708cb637fc
- author
- Larsson, Magnus LU ; Barfod, Jakob Rømer ; Clifton, Jonathan and Schnurr, Stephanie
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-04-09
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Organization Studies
- volume
- 46
- issue
- 9
- pages
- 1307 - 1330
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- ISSN
- 0170-8406
- DOI
- 10.1177/01708406251336017
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f33f9941-1af2-4d06-b3f5-21708cb637fc
- date added to LUP
- 2025-04-10 08:05:36
- date last changed
- 2025-09-18 10:03:54
@article{f33f9941-1af2-4d06-b3f5-21708cb637fc,
abstract = {{Post-heroic perspectives on leadership, which approach leadership as process, practice and a relational phenomenon, have shifted the theoretical understanding from individual characteristics to significant so-called moments of leadership, where direction emerges, and actions are re-oriented and organized. However, despite considerable theoretical development, research struggles to explore these processes in detail. Utilizing video and audio recordings, in this article, we present a systematic approach for analyzing the production and realization of moments of leadership as they happen. We propose a four-step procedure which combines an interpretative stance, guided by a sensitizing concept, with an ethnomethodologically inspired inductive analysis of the subtle moves and mechanisms of the construction of social order in interaction. We illustrate the procedure using data from a study of high-risk military leadership, showing how deliberate shifts of analytical stance between the steps - from reliance on researcher sensemaking to a close focus on participants’ own sensemaking, and finally to theoretical interpretation - enable both a unique assessment of the phenomenological nature of sequences selected for close analysis and support the development of theoretical contributions. The approach presented in this article enables a deep exploration of the realization of moments of leadership, complementing the existing emphasis on consequences of such moments of leadership. Such a detailed analysis of the realization of leadership offers new possibilities for empirically well-grounded theoretical developments of relational and processual perspectives.}},
author = {{Larsson, Magnus and Barfod, Jakob Rømer and Clifton, Jonathan and Schnurr, Stephanie}},
issn = {{0170-8406}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{04}},
number = {{9}},
pages = {{1307--1330}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Organization Studies}},
title = {{Exploring the Realization of Moments of Leadership : A Methodological Approach}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/227974864/larsson-et-al-2025-exploring-the-realization-of-moments-of-leadership-a-methodological-approach.pdf}},
doi = {{10.1177/01708406251336017}},
volume = {{46}},
year = {{2025}},
}