Blackboxing leadership: Methodological practices leading to manager-centrism. (February 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Larsson, Magnus; Alvehus, Johan
• Is Part Of: Leadership. Volume 19:Number 1(2023)
• Page Start: 85
• Page End: 97
• Publication Date: 2023-02
• Subjects: Leader-centrism -- manager-centrism -- blackboxing -- qualitative methodology -- quantitative methodology; Leadership -- Periodicals; Management -- Periodicals; 303.3405
• DOI: 10.1177/17427150221132398
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-7150

Abstract

The scholarly literature on leadership has long been characterized by leader-centrism, in the sense of a focus on individual leaders, their characteristics and actions. This tendency has been strongly criticized, not least by scholars with a critical perspective. However, we still see a strong emphasis on leaders and managers in empirical studies of leadership. In this article, we suggest that this tendency is at least in part a consequence of common methodological blackboxing practices within leadership studies. We identify two such blackboxing practices: delegation, where identification of the core phenomenon is left to informants, and proxying, when more easily defined phenomena are taken to stand for leadership. We suggest that a consequence of such practices is an unintended focus on managers, and attempts to avoid leader-centrism that rely on these blackboxing practices therefore paradoxically might result in manager-centrism.