Abstract
The theory of symbolic leadership goes back to ideas of numerous authors (e.g., Pondy 1978; Pfeffer 1981; Smircich and Morgan 1982). Presenting it as a cohesive leadership approach that incorporates various ideas and concepts of symbolic management and leadership and as clearly distinguishable from other theoretical leadership approaches has to be credited to the German leadership scholar Oswald Neuberger (1990, 1995, 2002). According to Neuberger (1995), the approach of symbolic leadership embeds the understanding of leadership reality in a more comprehensive theoretical frame. This frame is based on anthropology (e.g., Geertz 1973), research on corporate culture (e.g., Hofstede 1980; Schein 1985; Sackmann 1991; Martin 1992), and organizational symbolism (e.g., Pondy et al. 1983; Turner 1990; Alvesson and Berg 1992). Additionally, the sociological concepts of symbolic interactionism (e.g., Mead 1934; Blumer 1969) and the constructivist approach (e.g., Hosking et al., 1995) play an important role in this approach. Symbolic leadership is defined as leadership which refers to, and is based on, the category of meaning. Meaning becomes tangible and therefore can be experienced in the form of symbols (Neuberger 1995). The concept assumes that reality, created and lived by employees in companies, is a social construction, with leadership being a part of this reality (Bartölke 1987). The approach rejects the existence of a level of substantive actions and results, like noted in Pfeffer’s (1981a) writings about management as symbolic action. Instead, it is emphasized that the meaningful world of organizations is the outcome of numerous interaction processes creating the organizational reality. Hence, symbolic leadership concentrates on studying values, meaning, interpretation, history, context, as well as other symbolic elements in the leadership process (Kezar et al. 2006).
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Alvesson M, Berg PO (1992) Corporate culture and organizational symbolism. Walter de Gruyter, New York
Bartölke K (1987) Leadership: nothing but constructing reality by negotiations? In: Hunt JG, Baliga BR, Dachler P, Schriesheim CA (eds) Emerging leadership vistas. Lexington Books, Lexington, pp 151–157
Blumer H (1969) Symbolic interactionism: perspective and method. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Daft RL (1983) Symbols in organizations: a dual content framework of anlysis. In: Pondy LR, Frost PJ, Morgan G, Dandridge TC (eds) Organizational symbolism. JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp 199–206
Dandridge TC, Mitroff I, William FJ (1980) Organizational symbolism: a topic to expand organizational analysis. Acad Manage Rev 5(1):77–82
Geertz C (1973) The interpretation of cultures: selected essays. Basic Books, New York
Hofstede G (1980) Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values. Sage, Beverly Hills
Hosking DM, Dachler HP, Gergen KJ (1995) Management and organization: relational alternatives to individualism. Ashgate, Vermont
Kezar AJ, Carducci R, Contreras-McGavin M (2006) Rethinking the "L" word in higher education: the revolution in research on leadership. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA
Martin J (1992) Cultures in organizations: three perspectives. Oxford University Press, New York
Mead GH (1934) Mind, self and society. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Morgan G, Frost PJ, Pondy LR (1983) Organizational symbolism. In: Pondy LR, Frost PJ, Morgan G, Dandridge TC (eds) Organizational symbolism. JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp 3–38
Neuberger O (1990) Führung (ist) symbolisiert. Plädoyer für eine sinnvolle Führungsforschung [Leadership is symbolized (symbolizes). Plea for meaningful leadership research]. In: Wiendieck G, Wiswede G (eds) Führung im Wandel. Neue Perspektiven für Führungsforschung und Führungspraxis. Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart, pp 89–130
Neuberger O (1995) Führen und Geführt werden [To lead and to be led]. Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart
Neuberger O (2002) Führen und führen lassen. Ansätze, Ergebnisse und Kritik der Führungsforschung [To lead and to let lead. Approaches, findings and critique of leadership research]. Lucius & Lucius, Stuttgart
Pfeffer J (1977) The ambiguity of leadership. Acad Manage Rev 2(1):104–112
Pfeffer J (1981a) Management as symbolic action: the creation and maintenance of organizational paradigms. In: Cummings TG, Staw BM (eds) Research in organizational behaviour. JAI-Press, Greenwich, CT, pp 1–52
Pondy LR (1978) Leadership is a language game. In: McGall MW Jr, Lombardo MM (eds) Leadership: where else can we go?. Duke University Press, Durham, pp 87–99
Pondy LR, Frost PJ, Morgan G, Dandridge TC (eds) (1983) Organizational symbolism. JAI-Press, Greenwich, CT
Sackmann SA (1991) Cultural knowledge in organizations: exploring the collective mind. Sage, Newbury Park
Schein EH (1985) Organizational culture and leadership. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA
Smircich L, Morgan G (1982) Leadership: the management of meaning. J Appl Behav Sci 18(3):257–273
Turner BA (ed) (1990) Organizational symbolism. Walter de Gruyter, New York
Weibler J (1995) Symbolische führung [symbolic leadership]. In: Kieser A, Reber G, Wunderer R (eds) Handwörterbuch der Führung. C.E. Poeschel, Stuttgart, pp 2015–2026
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Winkler, I. (2010). Symbolic Leadership. In: Contemporary Leadership Theories. Contributions to Management Science. Physica-Verlag HD. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2158-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2158-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Physica-Verlag HD
Print ISBN: 978-3-7908-2157-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-7908-2158-1
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)