“Leading like a hero” - Rethinking entrepreneurial leadership through an integrated framework
(2025) ENTN19 20251Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- The study aims to focus on the employees' experiences as well as practices of the leaders' leadership styles in rapidly changing environments to contribute to a deeper understanding of leadership combinations. Although research has been conducted regarding different leadership approaches, there is limited research that explores the understanding of how entrepreneurial leaders combine and adapt different approaches in fast-growing companies. Drawing on qualitative research, a case study on Staffing has been conducted. A Swedish recruitment company within the retail sector based on semi-structured interviews with the founder, current and former employees. The Gioia method has been conducted to analyse the empirical data. The findings suggest... (More)
- The study aims to focus on the employees' experiences as well as practices of the leaders' leadership styles in rapidly changing environments to contribute to a deeper understanding of leadership combinations. Although research has been conducted regarding different leadership approaches, there is limited research that explores the understanding of how entrepreneurial leaders combine and adapt different approaches in fast-growing companies. Drawing on qualitative research, a case study on Staffing has been conducted. A Swedish recruitment company within the retail sector based on semi-structured interviews with the founder, current and former employees. The Gioia method has been conducted to analyse the empirical data. The findings suggest that the entrepreneurial leader plays a crucial role, both symbolic and emotional, fostering a strong team commitment through inspirational and innovative language, strategies and adaptive support. Furthermore, it showcases how a value-driven culture can be deeply adopted by employees influencing their identity and commitment. The study contributes to existing research by illustrating a blend of leadership styles shaped by the situation and growth stage. Implications can be seen in the recruitment process and the emotional leadership. Future research should focus on similar leadership dynamics but across different industries and stages in growth to understand how entrepreneurial leadership evolves over time. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9208302
- author
- Ingesson, Mathilda LU and Hamberg, Filippa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- ENTN19 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Entrepreneurial leadership, Leadership dynamics, Team performance, Organisational culture.
- language
- English
- id
- 9208302
- date added to LUP
- 2025-08-05 13:23:15
- date last changed
- 2025-08-05 13:23:15
@misc{9208302,
abstract = {{The study aims to focus on the employees' experiences as well as practices of the leaders' leadership styles in rapidly changing environments to contribute to a deeper understanding of leadership combinations. Although research has been conducted regarding different leadership approaches, there is limited research that explores the understanding of how entrepreneurial leaders combine and adapt different approaches in fast-growing companies. Drawing on qualitative research, a case study on Staffing has been conducted. A Swedish recruitment company within the retail sector based on semi-structured interviews with the founder, current and former employees. The Gioia method has been conducted to analyse the empirical data. The findings suggest that the entrepreneurial leader plays a crucial role, both symbolic and emotional, fostering a strong team commitment through inspirational and innovative language, strategies and adaptive support. Furthermore, it showcases how a value-driven culture can be deeply adopted by employees influencing their identity and commitment. The study contributes to existing research by illustrating a blend of leadership styles shaped by the situation and growth stage. Implications can be seen in the recruitment process and the emotional leadership. Future research should focus on similar leadership dynamics but across different industries and stages in growth to understand how entrepreneurial leadership evolves over time.}},
author = {{Ingesson, Mathilda and Hamberg, Filippa}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{“Leading like a hero” - Rethinking entrepreneurial leadership through an integrated framework}},
year = {{2025}},
}