The role of CEO (auto-) biographies in the dissemination of neo-ascetic leadership styles

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5779010
AutoresRobert Halsall (0000-0002-6415-0695, University of Aberdeen, autor de correspondencia)
Año2015
Volumen12
Número5
Páginas515-537
Fecha de publicación2015-06-26
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLeadership (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1742-7150 • E-ISSN: 1742-7169
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1742715015591861
OpenAlexW2256138901
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas40

This paper attempts to relate the critical analysis of religious or "sacred" metaphors in leadership to the theory of askēsis, the idea of leader as an incarnation of a virtue defined as "the formation of a full, perfect, complete and self-sufficient relationship with oneself." A model of leadership based on askēsis, it is argued, is established by means of the form of rhetoric called the exemplum, by means of which leaders derive authority from their being held to be a living (or dead) incarnation of an ideal of perfection, and their life being narrated as a "perfectionist vita." The principal means of communication of this exemplarity is the hagiography, which finds its contemporary equivalent in the popular CEO (auto-) biography, which can be interpreted as a reactivation of ancient hagiographic archetypes. In readings of three leader hagiographies, focusing on the narrative, rhetorical, and discursive strategies employed, it is shown how the dubious moral exemplarity of such individuals is established. The paper concludes with a discussion of the differences and analogies between the medieval hagiography and the contemporary CEO (auto-) biography, and a discussion of the relationship between asceticism and charisma in the light of these examples

Archetype · Asceticism · Charismatic authority · Incarnation · Perfection · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Management Theory and Practice · Workplace Spirituality and Leadership