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CHAPTER 18
Leade ship o Change:
How Did We Ge The e and
Whe e Do We Go F om He e?
ARJA ROPO
Leade ship ield was once cha ac e ised as “s ill wa e ” by a p ominen
schola in he ield, he la e P o esso Je y Hun , my academic
men o (pe sonal communica ion; see also Hun , 1991)
1
. We discussed
how leade ship hinking has e ol ed om scien i ic managemen heo y
wi h a manage ialis pe spec i e o a ious leade -cen ic models, such
as leade ai s, beha iou al s yles and leade ship con ingencies, all o
which ha e been desc ibed o e and o e again ac oss decades. The ield
seemed o be in a s alema e. As Boal and Hooijbe g (2001) conclude: “li le
new heo y was de eloped” (p. 515). A undamen al change in leade ship
iews ook place in he 1980s. Majo socie al and o ganisa ional changes
and ans o ma ions we e aking place, s a ing in he US: de egula ion
and in e na ionalisa ion o majo indus ies such as ai line and banking,
as well as me ge s and acquisi ions cu ac oss majo economic and
socie al sec o s. Along wi h la ge o ganisa ional changes, he concep o
s a egic leade ship was in oduced. Leade ship was no longe iewed as
1 Je y Hun was he ex e nal examine o my disse a ion in 1989 ha ocused on mul i-le el
leade ship change p ocesses in he Finnish banking indus y. Al hough ha ing a mains eam
app oach o leade ship, Je y was a ebel in his ime, challenging he s a us-quo and cu ious
o new is as o leade ship. He suppo ed my ou -o - he box app oach and in i ed me
o wo k wi h him, i s o a summe , hen o an academic yea 1992–93 a Texas Tech
Uni e si y. This was ollowed by many sho e mee ings bo h in he USA and Finland. The
con e sa ion abou he “s ill wa e ” o leade ship esea ch ook place si ing on a bench in
a hallway o he business school: Je y was o iginally going ou and I was going in. We ended
up alking he whole mo ning.
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a supe iso y unc ion bu as a mo e p o ound ac o o o ganisa ional
pe o mance: Leade ship ma e s, as he saying goes. The s a egic na u e
o leade ship was i s emphasised by Hamb ick and Mason (1984) in hei
Uppe Echelon Theo y, ollowed by an inc eased in e es in he s udy o
chie execu i es, op managemen eams and boa ds o di ec o s (Daily
& Schwenk, 1996; Finkels ein, Hamb ick & Cannella, 2009; Hamb ick,
1987). Cha isma ic (e.g. Conge & Kanungo, 1987; Shami , House & A hu ,
1993), isiona y and ans o ma ional leade heo ies (e.g. Bass, 1985; Bass
& A olio, 1994) we e labelled as he “new leade ship heo y” (B yman,
1992). S ong hie a chical leade -cen ici y con inued o cha ac e ise he
mos ly No h-Ame ican s a egic leade ship li e a u e.
Beyond acknowledging he s a egic impo ance o leade ship a
he op le el, a b oade o ganisa ional and en i onmen al con ex was
inc easingly ecognised o play a majo ole in unde s anding leade ship as
a phenomenon. Leade ship in con ex has been add essed in se e al special
issues o jou nals, such as Human Rela ions (Liden, An onakis & Fai hu s ,
2009), Jou nal o Wo ld Business (S ee s, Sanchez-Runde & Na don, 2012)
and Leade ship (Schedli zki, Case & Knigh s, 2017).
In leade ship esea ch, con ex is unde s ood in a ious and dis inc i e
ways. Al hough hey ad oca e con ex and leade ship di e en ly, Fiedle ’s
(1967) ea ly con ingency model o leade ship and House and Mi chell’s
(1974) pa h-goal heo y o leade ship a e bo h ounded on Lewin’s (1947)
sys em heo e ical no ion ha human beha iou is con ingen on con ex .
While Fiedle sugges s ha leade s need o be i ed o si ua ions acco ding
o hei a he s able leade ship s yles, House and Mi chell a gue ha
leade s need o adap hei s yle acco ding o he si ua ion. A he ime, i
was a b eak h ough idea ha leade ship does no occu in a acuum, bu
he con ex needs o be conside ed. This iew is pa icula ly u he ed
in cul u al leade ship esea ch conside ing bo h global, na ional and
o ganisa ional cul u es (e.g. House, Hanges, Mansou , Do man & Gup a,
2004; Schein, 1990; Smi h & Pe e son, 1988).
Mul i-le el leade ship app oaches p o ide ways o add ess leade ship
in con ex as an o ganisa ion hie a chical issue (e.g. Chun, Yamma ino,
Dionne, Sosik & Moon, 2009; Hun & Ropo, 1995) o as a dynamic
in e ac ion be ween indi idual, o ganisa ional and en i onmen al le els
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Leade ship o Change: How Did We Ge The e and Whe e Do We Go F om He e?
(Ropo, 1989). To ad ance ela ional in e ac ions, Ca e , DeChu ch, B aun
and Con ac o (2015) o e a social ne wo k app oach o leade ship by
emphasising complex, pa e ned ela ional p ocesses ha in e ac wi h
he embedding social con ex . Uhl-Bien, Ma ion and McKel ey (2007)
in oduced a complexi y heo y o leade ship a ound he idea o complex
adap i e sys ems (CAS) emphasising he cons an lux o li ing sys ems
(see also Hun & Ropo, 2003). Uhl-Bien e al.’s amewo k sugges s h ee
en angled leade ship “ oles”, as hey call hem: adap i e, adminis a i e
and enabling leade ship. These “ e lec a dynamic ela ionship be ween
he bu eauc a ic, adminis a i e unc ions o he o ganiza ion and he
eme gen , in o mal dynamics o complex adap i e sys ems” (p. 298).
CAS “ e e s o he na u e o in e ac ions and in e dependencies among
agen s (people, ideas e c.), hie a chical di isions, o ganiza ions and
en i onmen s” (p. 299). Acco ding o he au ho s, CAS and leade ship a e
socially cons uc ed. The complexi y app oach o leade ship emphasises
eme ging p ocesses in con ex and in e ac i e dynamics. Fi s and
o emos , i s esses he dis inc ion be ween leade and leade ship. F om
his pe spec i e, leading change in a complex wo ld is a collec i e e o
and akes place wi h and/o wi hou o mal leade s. Su he land (2015)
in oduces he no ion o leade less leade ship, claiming ha , i he e a e
no leade s i does no mean he e is no leade ship.
As he complexi y o leade ship con ex s ha e g own, he oci and
emphases in leade ship and o ganising need o change: om igid,
hie a chical and leade -cen ic o ganising whe e he ou come spu s
om op-down in luence, di ision o labo and cen alised con ol and
pe o mance measu es, owa d swi and lexible o ganising, whe e
in e ac ion, in e dependency o mul iple ac o s and ambigui y a e
he p ominen ea u es o o ganisa ional and social li e. Along wi h
his pe spec i e, plu alis leade ship heo ies (e.g. Denis, Langley &
Se gi, 2012) whe e leade ship unc ions a e dispe sed and mundane
in e ac ions a e b ough o he o e, ha e ecen ly gained oo age.
Leade ship is he e concei ed as p ac ice (Ca oll, Le y & Richmond,
2008; C e ani, Lindg en & Packendo , 2010; Raelin, 2016) a he
han as in luence o he leade on ollowe s. The leade ship-as-p ac ice
pe spec i e con inues o main ain ha ela ional and collec i e e o
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Leading Change in a Complex Wo ld: T ansdisciplina y Pe spec i es
Leade ship o Change: How Did We Ge The e and Whe e Do We Go F om He e?
is deeply oo ed in con ex ( o ela ional leade ship app oaches, see
also Dachle & Hosking, 1995; Uhl-Bien, 2006; Uhl-Bien & Ospina, 2012).
These pos -he oic leade ship heo ies p o ide ample ways o add ess he
dynamism o a complex wo ld and leading change.
2
Commen s on he LFC F amewo k
and Sugges ions o Fu u e S udy
This book de elops and discusses a ansdisciplina y amewo k o leading
change in a complex wo ld. Fi s , i poin s ou ha con empo a y change
p ocesses a e complex and sys emic. Second, i a gues ha issues and
p oblems c ossing adi ional ins i u ional bounda ies canno be esol ed
by a single ac o o sec o . Thi d, i shows ha complex en i onmen s a e
ma ked by ambigui y and unce ain y. As gene al as he amewo k is, he
o e all s a ing poin o he model ollows he a gumen a ion o ecen
de elopmen s in leade ship esea ch and b oade social discussions in
con empo a y (wes e n) socie y.
The p oposed amewo k desc ibes he complexi ies o he wo ld as
sys emic, in e connec ed and unp edic able. In o ganisa ions and as a
socie y we a e con on ed elen lessly wi h wicked p oblems ha a e un-
s uc u ed and cu ac oss all sec o s o social li e. The book p esen s a many-
sided pic u e o he wo ld in he mids o undamen al challenges, such
as an aging popula ion (Salminen, Chap e 5), plu alis belie s and alues
2 My collabo a ion wi h Je y Hun las ed abou i een yea s and ocused on mul i-le el
leade ship and complexi y issues. These we e me hodologically based on quali a i e,
g ounded heo y-d i en case s udies ha was all new o he ield a he ime. When I began
o be in e es ed in he cons uc ionis app oach and especially aes he ic epis emology in
he ea ly 2000s, we slowly d i ed apa . The e was he annual Academy o Managemen
Mee ing in Hawaii in 2005 whe e I had a PDW on he aes he ic leade ship app oach wi h a
ew colleagues. I ecall Je y saying: “I unde s and ha some hing new needs o be de eloped
in he ield, and you guys may be on some hing, bu DO NOT call i AESTHETICS”. Du ing
he same mee ing, ano he colleague said ha he e m “bodily” eminds him o bodily luids,
no o schola ly ways o knowing. These wo u e ances gi e a good indica ion o how deeply-
oo ed he posi i is pe spec i e o leade ship was a he ime – and con inues o be.
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(many chap e s in his olume), digi alisa ion (Vou ilainen and Koskinen,
Chap e 17; Nieminen, Chap e 6), he unequal oles o u al and u ban
egions and ways o li e (Heikkinen, Nieminen, Kujala, Mäkelä, Jokinen &
Leh onen, Chap e 2; Ka ppi & Vakku i, Chap e 3), and in inancial and
poli ical s a us (Juu inen, Chap e 16). I no add essed p ope ly, hese
undamen al issues will e en ually c ea e p oblems in main aining peace
and secu i y among na ions and popula ions. Jun unen and Vi a (Chap e
4) iden i y his con ex and s ep ou om he adi ional secu i y logic
by in oducing esilience as an in e sec ing ac i i y o a ious socie al
p ocesses and policies.
E e y hing is in e connec ed. How o deal wi h he complexi y o
hese p oblems? Who decides whe e o go, how a e he p oblems amed,
choices made and on which c i e ia ou comes a e e alua ed? F om whose
pe spec i e and in e es s? To unde s and he complex change con ex , he
book sugges s a ela ional app oach. I emphasises ha mul iple ac o s
a e needed o esol e hese p oblems. Fo mal leade s a e needed, bu his
is no enough. E e yone’s inpu is impo an whe he hey be o dina y
consume s o leade s in business o poli ical li e.
Kujala, Leh imäki & F eeman (Chap e 7) emphasise a b oad s akeholde
pe spec i e, while Y jölä, Kuusela, Nä änen, Rin amäki and Saa ijä i
(Chap e 8) poin ou cus ome -o ien a ion in leading change. The la e
app oach leads us o ponde who a e he cus ome s in di e en si ua ions
and o wha ex en cus ome alues a e homogenous. Rannis o and Salo an a
(Chap e 10) w i e abou he impo ance o e alua ing whe he he di ec ion
o change ollows he objec i es. This wa an s a consensus ega ding he
objec i es o change as well as pe o mance measu emen (Rajala, Chap e
11). Bo h o hese iews can be challenged in a complex wo ld.
In a democ a ic socie y, i is easonable o assume ha leade ship
in a complex wo ld canno eside in he hands o a ew. This is also
he iew unde lying he ela ional leade ship pe spec i e and plu alis
leade ship ad oca es. Bu how does his esemble he cu en si ua ion in
o ganisa ional, economic and poli ical sphe es? We li e in a g ea di ide o
economic and poli ical powe egimes, echnological inno a ions dis up ing
old indus ies and c ea ing new ones, inequali ies o human igh s and
li ing condi ions. These de elopmen s c ea e ambigui y, unce ain y and

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ensions be ween people, o ganisa ions, ins i u ions and socie ies. They
can also c ea e s agna ion in poli ical and o ganisa ional decision-making
and de ensi e on ie s in socie y. The call o cha isma ic leade s, o
sa io s o he wo ld, ypically a ises in imes o c ises and chaos. E e y
ime in his o y such leade s ha e appea ed, wi h o wi hou c eden ials
o he han s ong sel - eliance and sel -e icacy. Wi h hei (some imes
e en oxic) cha isma ic and seduc i e leade ship, hey ame he wo ld in
simplis ic e ms and p o ide quasi-solu ions o ix p oblems.
While being analy ically well-g ounded and c edible, he eli e’s
complexi y amewo k o he wo ld is ounded on in ellec and a ional
hinking, whe eas he human expe ience o i is emo ional and embodied.
This is he undamen al challenge cu en schola ly heo ies ace in ying
o make sense o he socie al and o ganisa ional complexi ies o p oblems.
Acknowledging a di e en way o knowing could open up a new a enue
o concei e leade ship and change in a complex wo ld. In addi ion o he
adi ional way o de eloping knowledge h ough
he in ellec , knowing in and h ough he body by
aes he ic senses, eelings and emo ions, as well as
memo ies and his o ies o e s an al e na i e way o
comp ehend human and social li e. Embodied ways
o knowing and de eloping schola ly knowledge
o social phenomena we e o iginally in oduced
in gende s udies, bu also de eloped in aes he ic
o ganisa ional heo y li e a u e (e.g. S a i, 1999).
Recen ly, speci ic ields such as leade ship ha e
adop ed embodimen and aes he ic no ions o
e hink old leade ship ques ions (Ladkin, 2010)
h ough an aes he ic and embodied lens (Hansen,
Ropo & Saue , 2007; Ladkin & Taylo , 2010;
Ropo & Salo aa a, 2018; Ropo, Pa iainen & Koi unen, 2002; Ropo,
Saue & Salo aa a, 2013; Ropo, Salo aa a, Saue & De Paoli, 2015; Sinclai ,
2005; Taylo & Hansen, 2005).
Wha embodied leade ship o change in sys emic, eme ging p ocesses
would en ail is wo h explo ing in he u u e de elopmen o he LFC
amewo k. Lis ening o he na a i es o a ious s akeholde s, bo h
Acknowledging
a di e en way o
knowing could open
up a new a enue o
concei e leade ship
and change in a
complex wo ld.
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Leade ship o Change: How Did We Ge The e and Whe e Do We Go F om He e?
o dina y people and hose in posi ions o powe , and p o iding o a o
media ion be ween con lic ing iews migh gi e genuine insigh s in o he
many ways he complex wo ld is concei ed and expe ienced.
The amewo k de eloped in his book, as well as many o he cases
examined in he indi idual chap e s, challenges he adi ional iew ha
changes a e a ionally planned and execu ed unde he con ol o wise
and compe en leade s. E en i his was he case, he magni ude o he
p oblems and hei connec edness could no be sol ed by a small numbe
o execu i es, no ma e how wise hey a e. The LFC amewo k sugges s,
in con as , ha changes a e eme ging con inuously and non-linea ly.
The wo ld is on he mo e all he ime, in di e en sec o s o socie y
and a di e en le els o o ganisa ions and ins i u ions. The mul i-le el
leade ship app oaches and complexi y heo y o leade ship ouched upon
ea lie migh gi e some ad ice o s uc u e and comp ehend complex
sys emic change concep ually and p ac ically. As Hun and Ropo (2003)
s a e: “Al hough abs ac and complex in and o hemsel es, chaos and
complexi y heo ies p o ide he unde lying no ions o dynamic sys ems”
(p. 316). They asse ha complex dynamic sys ems canno be ep esen ed
by educ ionism. Ins ead hey need o be iewed as a holis ic syne gy; as
mo e han he sum o i s pa s. Syne ge ic o ces c ea e an eme ging o de
om sel -o ganising in e ac ions and esonances be ween he uni s in he
sys em. Kau man (1993) used he e m “o de is ee” o poin ou ha he
o de in dynamic sys ems is o med om he bo om up wi h no o e iding
cen al o de ing o ce om abo e (Hun & Ropo, 2003, p. 318).
Consequen ly, sel -o ganising is a model ha has been inc easingly
sugges ed as a way o lead change in a complex wo ld. While in oducing he
pe spec i e o sys emic sel -o ganising, G i in (2002) links i wi h e hics
in e e yday social in e ac ion, an issue ha becomes cen al in leading
change in a complex wo ld. Ano he signi ican issue is he echnology o
communica ing. Ten yea s ago, Shi ky (2009) claimed ha he ools o
coope a ing a e no solely in he hands o go e nmen s and ins i u ions.
He explo ed how echnology can empowe social and poli ical o ganise s.
Ma ela and Ja enko (2017) go as a as o claim ha sel -o ganising is
i al o o ganisa ional pe o mance. Howe e , hey emphasise he e a e
necessa y condi ions o sel -o ganising o be success ul: sel -in e es ed
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ac o s, he possibili y o use one’s own co e compe ence, knowledge
sha ing, and mechanism o p e en ing ee- iding.
While conside ing dynamic change as eme gen , a p ocessual iew needs
o be adop ed in he LFC amewo k. Recen ly, p ocessual o ganisa ion
esea ch has been gi en g ea a en ion bo h in publica ions (e.g. Helin,
He nes, Hjo h & Hol , 2014; Langley, Smallman, Tsoukas & de Ven, 2013;
Tsoukas & Chia, 2002) and in con e ences (e.g. he S anding Wo k G oup
a he EGOS colloquium). In con as o he adi ional en i a i e iew o
p ocess as an un olding sequence o e en s o s a es, p ocessual on ology
is inc easingly applied o g asp he “becoming” o phenomena whe e
a ious agen s a e ac i ely engaged in ma e ial-discu si e p ac ices. How
o concei e, s udy, w i e abou and p ac ice a uly p ocessual (Abdallah,
Lusiani & Langley, 2018) pe spec i e o leading change in a complex wo ld
would need o be se iously add essed o u he de elop he amewo k
and i s heo e ical and p ac ical ele ance. Ma e iali y and pe o ma i i y
ha e been in oduced as cen al in p ocess s udies (e.g. Ba ad, 2003). The
LFC amewo k migh bene i om he insigh s o he “ma e ial u n”
in o ganisa ion (Ca lile, Nicolini, Langley & Tsoukas, 2013; Dale, 2005;
O likowski & Sco , 2008) and leade ship s udies (Hawkins, 2015; Obo n,
Ba e & Dawson, 2013; Pullen & Vachhani, 2013; Ropo e al., 2013). An
impo an inpu o unde s and he socioma e ial na u e o change is he
“Was ebus e s” (Nä änen, Ma ila & Mesi an a, Chap e 14) p ojec o
educe ood was e.
In summa y, he LFC amewo k de eloped in he con ibu ions o his
book p o ides he beginnings o concei e a wo ld iew ha is sys emic and
o e a ching. Fi s , i iden i ies some key cha ac e is ics o he changing
con ex s o human li e. Second, i holds a posi i e unde one ha s a e-o -
he a can be challenged and changed, be i powe inequali ies o challenges
in educing ood was e. Thi d, no ma e how conse a i e he no ion is,
i also makes he impo an obse a ion ha change calls o con inui y.
Leade ship o change is abou people, and people also need balance and
con inui y. The LFC amewo k in oduced in his book p o ides ways o
dis u bing he “s ill wa e ” o leade ship by b inging ansdisciplina y iews
o anscend, unde s and and lead in he complex and dynamic wo ld.
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