There is no leadership if no-one follows: Why leadership is necessarily a group process

Authors:
  • MPMichael J. Platow
    Michael J. Platow
  • SHS. Alexander Haslam
    S. Alexander Haslam
  • SRStephen D. Reicher
    Stephen D. Reicher
  • NSNiklas K. Steffens
    Niklas K. Steffens
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Abstract
In this paper, we put forward the thesis that leadership is fundamentally a group process: leaders must be ‘one of us’. We build our argument around recent social identity theory and self-categorisation theory analyses of leadership. In doing so, we highlight the essential nature of sharedpsychologicalgroup memberships as the key mediating processes through which leadership develops. Through a review of existing research, we then demonstrate: (1) how leadership is exerted through in-group-based social influence; (2) how the more that group members capture the attributes of ‘us-in-context’ – the more they are in-groupprototypical– the greater will be their leadership potential; and (3) how common attributes associated with leadership (i.e. trust, charisma, fairness) can all be understood as outcomes of shared psychological group membership. Leadership, however, is not simply about ‘being’, it is about ‘doing’ as well. In this manner, we discuss the importance of acting to advance the group (in the form of social identity advancement) and crafting a sense of the group (in the form of social identity entrepreneurship). We conclude by reviewing a recently-developedIdentity Leadership Inventorythat allows practitioners to take these ideas from concepts to practice.

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