Leadership and followership are not just roles, but dynamic identities shaped by complex identity construction and deconstruction processes that define who leads, who follows, and how individuals navigate managerial transitions and changes in their roles.
In
The Oxford Handbook of Leadership, Followership, and Identity, Olga Epitropaki and Ronit Kark bring together prominent scholars to delve into the evolving field of leader and follower identity. They explore how our self-perceptions as leaders and followers can shape personal, team, and organizational outcomes, as well as how these identities evolve over time. Chapters highlight intrapersonal identity processes and identity development across diverse contexts; how relational and contextual factors influence leader and follower identities; the challenges of navigating multiple identities and identity tensions; intergroup leadership; cultural influences on identity integration; the role of vision communication in shaping collective identity; and the need for leadership development to extend beyond formal roles. Over the course of the book, chapter authors cover emerging themes, such as temporality, context, relational and collective elements, intersectionality, and critical perspectives, that capture the complexity of leader-follower identity processes and open new pathways for theoretical and empirical research.
By synthesizing cutting-edge research and offering forward-looking perspectives, the
Handbook serves as a resource for leadership and organizational scholars and a springboard for innovative approaches to leadership development. Whether one's goal is to gain a deeper understanding of leadership and followership identity processes or to apply a novel approach to leadership development, this volume offers an essential roadmap for navigating the complexities of leadership, followership, and identity in modern organizations.
Olga Epitropaki is Professor of Management and Deputy Executive Dean (Research) at Durham University Business School. Her research focuses on leadership schemas, identity, relationship-based leadership, and creative leadership. Her research has been published in top journals, including Academy of Management Annals, American Psychologist, Journal of Applied Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Management, and Personnel Psychology. She is former Senior Associate Editor of The Leadership Quarterly and the founder and organizer of the annual "Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Leadership Symposium."
Ronit Kark is Full Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Bar-Ilan University. She is also a Distinguished Research Professor at the Exeter School of Business and an Anna Boyksen Fellow at the Technical University of Munich. Kark's research focuses on leadership, gender, identity and identification, positive relationships, and creative leadership. Her work has been published in leading journals, including
Academy of Management Review,
Academy of Management Annals,
Journal of Applied Psychology,
The Leadership Quarterly, and
Journal of Management. She is also a former Associate Editor of
The Leadership Quarterly.
