Leadership in Professional Organisations

June 12, 2012 - PRLog -- How are leadership processes in professional organisations different from the organising and coordinating processes that comprise management?

What is the relationship between leadership and power in professional organisations? Can you have leadership without power?

These were among the thought-provoking questions debated by some of the world's leading scholars in the fields of leadership and professional organisations at a significant academic conference held at Cass Business School in April.

The conference, which was organised and chaired by Laura Empson, Professor in the Management of Professional Service Firms and Director of the Centre for Professional Service Firms, brought together a disparate group of distinguished scholars from a variety of theoretical perspectives. The aim was to identify theoretical approaches which may be applicable to the development of future leadership research in this context and identify key themes to on which to focus.

In a series of intellectually stimulating and often highly provocative presentations, the scholars rejected the traditional image of leadership based on powerful individuals aligning their colleagues behind a strategic vision. They subjected leadership in professional organisations to a complexity lens and cultural theory; according to their analysis it was 'pooled', 'negotiated', 'configured', and at one point it completely disappeared. The academics in the audience challenged these arguments, made connections to other relevant bodies of research, and suggested areas of potentially fruitful further research.

It was clear that the emerging body of process-based leadership theory was the most promising area for future research in this context, particularly given its emphasis on plural models of leadership. In fact, all the presenters focused on leadership as a process: arguing that more conventional individually based models of leadership are of limited value in professional organisations as leadership is more typically the product of the collective rather than just a particular individual.

The conference was preceded by a one-day masterclass for PhD scholars (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/phd/areas-of-study) conducting research in the field. Because interest among academics was high and the conference was heavily over-subscribed plans are being made for a future conference.

The conference was jointly funded by the Centre for Professional Service Firms (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/research-and-faculty/centres/cpsf) at Cass and the Economic and Social Research Council of Great Britain, who are funding Professor Laura Empson's research study "Understanding Leadership Dynamics in Professional Service Firms."

Sir John Cass Business School is among the top one per cent of business schools worldwide, offering undergraduate, specialist Masters, MBA, Executive Education and PhD programmes (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/phd). Our research has a global reputation and we have an outstanding employment record after graduation.