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.
Part I: Intrapersonal Identity Processes and Identity Development 1. Quo Vadis Leadership and Followership Identity Research? Olga Epitropaki and Ronit Kark 2. Measuring Leadership Identity: Complexity, Risk, and Recommendations Robert G. Lord, Rosalie Hall, Paola Gatti, Xiaotong (Janey) Zheng, and Richard Morgan 3. Schemas, Identity, and Leadership Development Sonja Zaar, Piet Piet Van Den Bossche, and Wim Gijselaers 4. Developmental Perspectives of Leadership Identity Across the Lifespan Stefanie K. Johnson and Susan Elaine Murphy 5. Leadership Identity at a Crossroads: New Ways of Theorizing, Measuring, and Modelling Dynamic States Susanne Braun, Karolina W. Nieberle, and Bryan P. Acton 6. Leader Identity Construction and Deconstruction Carolina Bysh, Timothy Holmes, Olga Epitropaki, and Susanne Braun 7. Power in Disguise: A Critique of Leadership Discourse as an Identity Resource Mark Learmonth and Gerlinde Mautner 8. The Self-Regulatory Focus in Leadership Processes: The Dynamics of Time Dina Van Dijk, Ronit Kark, Marianna Delegach, and Ariel Daniels 9. Critical Perspectives on Leadership and Identity Mats Alvesson and Yiannis Gabriel Part II: Relational and Multiple Identities 10. The Co-Enactment of the Leader-Follower Identity: A Metaphor-Based Exploration Zahira Jaser, Cliff Oswick, and Andre Spicer 11. The Critical Role of Followers' Identity Work and Granting Behaviors in Non-Prototypical Leader Success Laura Weimer and Lakshmi Ramarajan 12. Managing Multiple Leader Identities Through the Formation of a Self Hamza Kahn, Jesse Proctor, and Michael G. Pratt 13. Cross-Domain Influences on Leader-Follower Identities Michelle Hammond, Michael Palanski, and Gretchen Vogelgesang Lester 14. A Relational Approach to Paradox: Exploring the Co-Creation of Leadership-Followership Paradox Configurations Mathew Sheep and Mary Uhl-Bien 15. A Professional and/or a Leader? Discordant and Harmonious Professional-Leader Identities During Leadership Role Transitions Olga Epitropaki and Paola Gatti 16. Emotion and Identity: The Co-Production of Leadership and Followership Jacob S. Levitt and Sigal G. Barsade Part III: Leadership and Collective Identity 17. Leaders as Group Members: The Social Identity Theory of Leadership Daan van Knippenberg 18. A Relational Identification Theory of Leadership: Interdependence, Belonging, and the Amplifying Power of Personalization David M. Sluss, Bryant S. Thompson, and Yifeng (Felix) Fan 19. Intergroup Leadership: A Remedy for Populism and Partisanship? Michael A. Hogg and David E. Rast III 20. Identity Leadership: United in Team Spirit Diana von Kopp, Rudolf Kerschreiter, and Rolf van Dick 21. Consequences of Culturally Based Dynamic Leadership and Followership Identities Thomas Sy, Yanjun Guan, Roni Reiter-Palmon, Stefanie Plemmons Shaughnessy, Xinyi Zhou, Alex Leung, Calen Horton, Ryan Royston, and Eric Scheller 22. The (Non)Integration of Social Identity Demands and Implicit Leadership Expectations: A Challenge for Professional Hybrids Charlotte Croft, Graeme Currie, and Julie Davies 23. Visionary Leadership Daan Stam, Daan van Knippenberg, Eric Kearney, and Qi Zhang 24. Global Leaders in Culturally Diverse Work Contexts: Cultural Identity Strategies and Leadership Effectiveness Raveh Harush, Alon Lisak, Miriam Erez, and Ella Glikson 25. Ensuring The Best Person Steps Up to Lead Gregory A. Ruark, David M. Wallace, Seth A. Kaplan, and Mary J. Waller 26. Leadership and Followership Identities in Organizations: Concluding Thoughts Ronit Kark and Olga Epitropaki
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.
