Traditional leadership theory is based on the conflation of leadership with leaders. Lately the focus has been on heroic leadership, a leadership practice tightly intertwined with masculinity. Male success has been depicted in terms of an independent, aggressive, secure, decisive, worldly leader (Ely & Padavic, 2007). The first aim of this paper is to contribute to post-heroic leadership theory by offering a relational and non-individual/masculine/heroic conception of leadership. I will question the idea that leadership is something leaders do as well as I will try to keep the focus on the leadership that is done, not on the individuals doing it, and name it as leadership. The second aim of the paper is to ask what happens with a relational conception of leadership, is it also gendering? I will therefore analyse the practicing of leadership (in my conceptualization) at the intersection with the practicing of gender and show that, even if leadership as analyzed in this paper is a practicing that does not directly imply heroic masculinity, if gender (and seniority) is not taken into consideration and critically analyzed and reflected upon, inequality and exclusion from the doing of leadership will persist.
QC 20120507