Since the late 1980s, leadership theorists and researchers have appreciated the significance of leaders as makers of meaning. While this understanding has stimulated a greater need to link leadership to organizational symbolism and organizational sense-making issues, the focus on these issues has resulted in not insignificant dissatisfaction with conventional approaches to the study of leadership. In response, this article proposes a complementary alternative focus for research and practice in the leadership area. It advances the use of the symbolic and relational aspects of leadership as highlighted in the three subgenres of dramatism namely: Kenneth Burke’s dramatism (life is drama), Erving Goffman’s dramaturgy (life is like drama ) and Victor Turner’s social drama (life and drama are interdependent ). There-after the article explores the key distinctions between the three sub-genres so as to identify their analytical as well as explanatory focus. Implications for leadership research and practice using the three subgenres are presented. The article closes with a discussion on the opportunities an integrated dramatistic approach might offer the general field of leadership.
Biddle, B.J. ( 1986) ‘Recent Developments in Role Theory’, Annual Review of Sociology12: 67-92.
6.
Boje, D. ( 1995) ‘Stories of the Storytelling Organisation: A Post-modern Analysis of Disney "Tamaraland"’, Academy of Management Journal38(4): 997-1035.
7.
Branaman, A. ( 1994) ‘Reconsidering Kenneth Burke: His Contributions to the Identity Controversy’, The Sociological Quarterly35(3): 443-5.
8.
Branaman, A. ( 1997) ‘Goffman’s Social Theory’, in C. Lemert & A. Branaman (eds)The Goffman Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
9.
Brissett, D., & Edgley, C. ( 1975) Life as Theatre: A Dramaturgical Sourcebook. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
10.
Brown, R.H. ( 1977) A Poetic for Sociology: Toward a Logic of Discovery for the Human Science. New York: Cambridge University Press.
11.
Bryman, A. ( 2004) ‘Qualitative Research on Leadership: A Critical but Appreciative Review’, The Leadership Quarterly15(4): 729-69.
12.
Burke, K. ( 1937) Attitudes towards History. New York : The New Republic.
13.
Burke, K. ( 1950) A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkeley, CA : University of California Press.
14.
Burke, K. ( 1965) Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.
15.
Burke, K. ( 1966) Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
16.
Burke, K. ( 1967) The Philosophy of Literary Form. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
17.
Burke, K. ( 1968) The international encyclopaedia of the social sciences . New York: Macmillan.
18.
Burke, K. ( 1969) A Grammar of Motives. Berkeley, CA : University of California Press.
19.
Burns, T. ( 1992) Erving Goffman. London: Routledge.
20.
Campbell, S.M., Ward, A.J., Sonnenfeld, J.A., & Agle, B.R. ( 2008) ‘Relational Ties That Bind: Leader-Follower Relationship Dimensions and Charismatic Attributions’, The
21.
Leadership Quarterly19: 556-68.
22.
Case, P. ( 1999) ‘Remember Re-engineering? The Rhetorical Power of a Managerial Salvation Device’, Journal of Management Studies36(4): 419-42.
23.
Cheney, G., Garvin-Doxas, K., & Torrens, K. ( 1999) ‘Kenneth Burke’s Implicit Theory of Power’ , in Bernard Brock (ed.) Kenneth Burke and the 21st century. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
24.
Clark, T. ( 1995) Managing Consultants: Consultancy as the Management of Impressions. Buckingham: Open University Press.
25.
Clark, T., & Mangham, I. ( 2004) ‘From Dramaturgy to Theatre as Technology: The Case of Corporate Theatre’, Journal of Management Studies41(1): 37-59.
26.
Clark, T., & Salaman, G. ( 1996) ‘The Management Guru as Organisational Witchdoctor’ , Organisation3(1): 85-107.
27.
Clegg, S.R., & Hardy, C. ( 1996) ‘Conclusions: Representations’, in S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy , & W. R. Nord (eds) Handbook of Organisation Studies. London: Sage.
28.
Collinson, D. ( 2005) ‘Dailectics of Leadership’, Human Relations58(11): 1419-42.
29.
Collinson, D. ( 2006) ‘Rethinking Followership: A Post-structuralist Analysis of Follower Identities’, The Leadership Quarterly17(2): 179-89.
30.
Collinson, D., & Grint, K. ( 2005) ‘Editorial: The Leadership Agenda’, Leadership1(1): 5-9.
31.
Combs, J.E., & Mansfield, M.W. (1976) Drama in Life. New York: Hastings House.
32.
Conger, J.A. ( 1990) ‘The Dark Side of Leadership’, Organisation Dynamics19(2): 44-55.
33.
Conger, J. ( 1998) ‘Qualitative Research in the Understanding of Leadership’ , The Leadership Quarterly9(1): 107-21.
34.
Czarniawska, B. ( 1997) Narrating the Organisation: Dramas of Institutional Identity . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
35.
Czarniawska-Joerges, B., & Jacobsson, B. ( 1995) ‘Political Organisations and Commedia dell’Arte’ , Organisation Studies16(3): 375-91.
36.
Czarniawska-Joerges, B., & Wolff, R. ( 1991) ‘Leaders, Managers, Entrepreneurs On and Off the Organisational Stage’, Organisation Studies12(4): 529-46.
37.
Denzin, N. ( 2002) ‘Much Ado About Goffman’, The American Sociologist33(2): 105-17.
38.
Duncan, H. ( 1962) Communication and Social Order. New York: Bedminster Press.
39.
Evreinoff, N. ( 1927). The theatre in life. New York: Benjamin Blom.
40.
Fairhurst, G. ( 2001) ‘Dualism in Leadership Research’, in F. M. Jablin & L. L. Putnam (eds) The New Handbook of Organisational Communication , pp. 379-439. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41.
Fairhurst, G. ( 2005) ‘Reframing: The Art of Framing: Problems and Prospects for Leadership’, Leadership1(2): 165-85.
Foss, S., Ross, K., & Trapp, R. ( 1985) Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
44.
Fox, C. ( 2002) ‘Beyond the "Tyranny of the Real": Revisiting Burke’s Pentad as Research Method for Professional Communication’, Technical Communication Quarterly11(4): 365-88.
Gardner, W.L., & Avolio, B.J. ( 1998) ‘The Charismatic Relationship: A Dramaturgical Perspective’ , Academy of Management Review23: 32-58.
47.
Geertz, C. ( 1979) ‘Blurred Genres: The Refiguration of Social Thought’ , The American Scholar49: 165-79.
48.
Geertz, C. ( 1983) Local Knowledge. New York: Basic Books.
49.
Giddens, A. ( 1988) ‘Goffman as a Systematic Social Theorist’ , in Paul Drew and Andrew Wootton (eds) Erving Goffman: Exploring the Interaction Order. Cambridge: Polity Press.
50.
Gluckman, M., & Gluckman, M. ( 1977) ‘On Drama and Games and Athletic Contests’ , in S. F. Moore & B. Myerhoff (eds) Secular Ritual, pp. 227-43. Assen: Van Gorcum.
51.
Goffman, E. ( 1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday Anchor.
52.
Goffman, E. ( 1963) Stigma. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
53.
Goffman, E. ( 1967) Interaction Ritual, on Face-Work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements in Social Interaction. New York: Doubleday.
54.
Goffman, E. ( 1971) Relations in Public: Micro Studies of the Public Order . New York: Basic Books.
55.
Goffman, E. ( 1974) Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organisation of Experience . New York: Harper & Row.
56.
Gouldner, A. ( 1968) ‘The Sociologist as Partisan: Sociology and the Welfare State’, American Sociologist4: 103-16.
57.
Griffin, E. ( 1997) Dramatism of Kenneth Burke: A First Look at Communication Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
58.
Grint, K. ( 2000) The Arts of Leadership. New York: Oxford University Press.
59.
Gronn, P. ( 2002) ‘Distributed Leadership as a Unit of Analysis’ , The Leadership Quarterly13(4): 423-52.
60.
Gusfield, J. ( 1989) ‘The Bridge over Separated Land’, in Herbert W. Simons & Trevor Melia (eds) The Legacy of Kenneth Burke, pp. 28-53. Glencoe, IL: University of Wisconsin Press.
61.
Guthey, E., & Jackson, B. ( 2005) ‘CEO Portraits and the Authenticity Paradox’ , Journal of Management Studies42(5):1057-81.
62.
Hartog, D.N., & Verburg, R.M. ( 1997) ‘Charisma and Rhetoric’, The Leadership Quarterly8: 355-91.
63.
Harvey, A. ( 2001) ‘A Dramaturgical Analysis of Charismatic Leader Discourse’, Journal of Organisational Change Management14(3): 253-65.
64.
Hosking, D.M. ( 1988) ‘Organizing, Leadership and Skillful Process’ , Journal of Management Studies25: 147-66.
65.
Howell, J., & Shamir, B. ( 2005) ‘The Role of Followers in the Charismatic Leadership Process: Relationships and Their Consequences’, Academy of Management Review30(1): 96-112.
66.
Jones, E.E., & Pitman, T.S. ( 1982) ‘Toward a Theory of Strategic Self-presentation’ , in J. Shuls (ed.) Psychological Perspectives on the Self, pp. 231-62. Hillside, NJ : Erlbaum.
67.
Karreman, D. ( 2001) ‘The Scripted Organisation: Dramaturgy from Burke to Baudrilland’, in R. Westwood & S. Linstead (eds) The Language of Organisation , pp. 89-111. London: Sage.
68.
Klumpp, J.F. ( 1999) ‘Burkean Social Hierarchy and the Ironic Investment of Martin Luther King’, in B. L. Brock (ed.) Kenneth Burke and the Twenty-first Century, pp. 207-41. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
69.
Lemert, C. ( 1997) ‘Goffman’, in C. Lemert & A. Branaman (eds) The Goffman Reader , pp. ix-xiii. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
70.
Lyman, S.M., & Scott, M.B. ( 1975) The Drama of Social Reality. New York : Oxford University Press.
71.
Mangham, I. ( 1978) Interactions and Interventions in Organisations. Chichester: Wiley.
72.
Mangham, I. ( 1990) ‘Managing as Performing Art’, British Journal of Management1: 105-15.
73.
Mangham, I. ( 1996) ‘All the world’s a . . .’, Studies in Culture, Organisations & Societies12(2): 9-13.
74.
Mangham, I.L., & Overington, M.A. (1983) ‘Dramatism and the Theatrical Metaphor’, in G. Morgan (ed.) Beyond Method, pp. 219-33. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
75.
Mangham, I.L., & Overington, M.A. (1987) Organisations as Theatre: A Social Psychology of Dramatic Appearances. Chichester : John Wiley.
76.
Messinger, S.E., Sampson, H., & Towne, R.D. ( 1962) ‘Life as Theatre: Some Notes on the Dramaturgic Approach to Social Reality’, Sociometry25: 98-110.
77.
Mintzberg, H. ( 1978) ‘Patterns in Strategy Formation’, Management Science24(9): 934-48.
78.
Morgan, G. ( 1986) Images of Organisation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
79.
Oswick, C., Keenoy, T., & Grant, D. ( 2001) ‘Dramatizing and Organizing’, Journal of Organisational Change Management14(3): 218-24.
80.
Overington, M.A. ( 1977b) ‘Kenneth Burke and Dramatism’, Theory and Society4: 136-56.
Parry, K.W. ( 1998) ‘Grounded Theory and Social Process: A New Direction for Leadership Research’, The Leadership Quarterly9(1): 85-105.
83.
Pearce, C. L., & Conger, J. A. (eds) (2003) Shared Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
84.
Peck, E., Freeman, T.P., & Dickinson, H. (2009) ‘Performing Leadership : Towards a New Research Agenda in Leadership Studies’, Leadership5(1): 25-40.
85.
Perinbanayagam, R.S. ( 1974) ‘The Definition of the Situation: An Analysis of the Ethnomethodological and Dramaturgical View’, Sociological Quarterly15(4): 521-41.
Prasad, P. ( 2005) Crafting Qualitative Research: Working in the Post Positivist Traditions. London: M. E. Sharpe .
88.
Prince, L. ( 2005) ‘Eating the Menu Rather Than the Dinner: Tao and Leadership’, Leadership1(1): 105-26.
89.
Putnam, L., Philips, N., & Chapman, P. ( 1996) ‘Metaphors of Communication and Organisation’ , in S. R Clegg, C. Hardy, & W. R. Nord (eds) Handbook of Organisation Studies, pp. 375-408. London: Sage.
90.
Ropo, A., Parviainen, J., & Koivunen, N. ( 2002) ‘Aesthetics in Leadership’, in K. W. Parry & J. R. Meindl (eds) Grounding Leadership Theory and Research: Issues, Perspectives and Methods, pp. 21-38. Greenwich, CT : Information Age Publishing.
91.
Schank, R.C., & Abelson, R.P. ( 1977) Scripts, Plans, Goals, and Understanding: An Inquiry into Human Knowledge Structures. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
92.
Schechner, R. ( 1977) Essays on Performance Theory. New York : Drama Book Specialists.
93.
Schechner, R. ( 1987) Preface: Victor Turner’s Last Adventure in The Anthropology of Performance. London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
94.
Shamir, B. ( 1999) ‘Taming Charisma for Better Understanding and GreaterU sefulness: A Response to Beyer’, The Leadership Quarterly10(4): 555-62.
95.
Shamir, B., & Howell, J.M. ( 1999) ‘Organisational and Contextual Influences on the Emergence and Effectiveness of Charismatic Leadership’, The Leadership Quarterly10(2): 257-83.
96.
Siegel, P.A., & Brockner, J. ( 2005) ‘Individual and Organisational Consequences of CEO Claimed Handicapping: What Is Good for the CEO May Not Be Good for the Firm’ , Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes96: 1-22.
97.
Simons, H.W. ( 1989) ‘Introduction: Kenneth Burke and the Rhetoric of human sciences’, in H. W. Simons & T. Melia (eds) The Legacy of Kenneth Burke. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
98.
Simons, H. W., & Melia, T. (eds) (1989) The Legacy of Kenneth Burke . Madison, WI: University of Wiscons in Press.
99.
Sinha, P., & Jackson, B. ( 2006) ‘A Burkean Inquiry into Leader-Follower Identification Motives’, Culture and Organisation12(3): 233-47.
100.
Sosik, J.J., Avolio, B.J., & Jung, D.I. ( 2002) ‘Beneath the Mask: Examining the Relationship of Self-presentation Attributes and Impression Management of Charismatic leadership’ , The Leadership Quarterly13: 217-42.
101.
Taylor, S.S. ( 2007) ‘The Three Faces of Leadership: Manager, Artist, Priest’, Journal of Organisational Change Management20(1): 150-3.
102.
Taylor, S.S., & Hansen, H. ( 2005) ‘Finding Form: Looking at the Field of Organisational Aesthetics’, Journal of Management Studies42(6): 1211-32.
103.
Turner, V. ( 1969) Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure. Chicago: Aldine.
104.
Turner, V. ( 1974) Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
105.
Turner, V. ( 1982) From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play . New York: PAJ.
106.
Turner, V. ( 1984) ‘Liminality and Performance Genres’, in J. J. MacAloon (ed.) Rite, Drama Festival, Spectacle: Rehearsals Towards a Theory of Performance. Philadelphia, PA: Institute for the Study of Human Issues.
107.
Van Maanen, J. ( 1979) ‘Reclaiming Qualitative Methods for Organisational Research: A Preface’, Administrative Science Quarterly24(4): 520-6.
108.
Weick, K.E. ( 1979) The Social Psychology of Organizing. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
109.
Wood, M. ( 2005) ‘The Fallacy of Misplaced Leadership’, Journal of Management Studies42(6): 1101-1121.
110.
Wood, T. ( 2002) ‘Spectacular Metaphors: From Theatre to Cinema’ , Journal of Organisational Change Management15(1):11-20.
111.
Yukl, G.A. ( 1999) ‘An Evaluation of Conceptual Weaknesses in Transformational and Charismatic Leadership Theories’, Leadership Quarterly10(2): 285-305.
