The New Psychology of Leadership: Identity, Influence and Power

This groundbreaking book provides a refreshing introduction to the field of leadership and is jam-packed with theoretical and practical insights derived from a wealth of applied scientific research conducted by the authors and their colleagues around the world over the last three decades. It starts from the premise that leadership is never just about leaders. Instead it is about leaders and followers who are joined together as members of a social group that provides them with a sense of shared social identity – a sense of "us-ness". In these terms, leadership is understood as the process through which leaders work with followers to create, represent, advance, and embed this sense of shared social identity. The new edition of this award-winning book presents a wealth of evidence from historical, organizational, political and sporting contexts to provide an expanded exploration of these processes of identity leadership in action. In particular, it builds upon the success of the first edition by examining the operation of identity leadership in contemporary society and fleshing out practical answers to key organizational and institutional challenges. Drawing on real-world examples and rich data sources, this book will appeal to academics, researchers, and students of psychology, business, and management, as well as to practitioners, policy makers, and anyone interested in the workings of leadership, influence, and power.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Preface 1. The Old Psychology of Leadership: Great Men and the Cult of Personality 2. The Current Psychology of Leadership: Issues of Context and Contingency, Transaction and Transformation 3. Foundations for The New Psychology of Leadership: Social Identity and Self-Categorization 4. Being One of Us: Leaders as In-group Prototypes 5. Doing It for Us: Leaders as In-group Champions 6. Crafting a Sense of Us: Leaders as Entrepreneurs of Identity 7. Making Us Matter: Leaders as Embedders of Identity 8. The pragmatics and politics of identity leadership: Being effective and doing good 9. The tools of identity leadership: Translating theory into practice Notes References Glossary