Narrative, drama and charismatic leadership

The case of Apple’s Steve Jobs

Bibliographic Data

ID12882995
AuthorsAbz Sharma (The University of Sydney, corresponding author), David Grant (0000-0002-5602-5640, The University of Sydney)
Year2011
Volume7
Issue1
Pages3-26
Publication date2011-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLeadership (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1742-7150 • E-ISSN: 1742-7169
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1742715010386777
OpenAlexW2331127439
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited45

This article argues that a leader’s narrative and storytelling skills play a critical role in constructing their charismatic identity. In line with Goffman’s (1959) observations, we argue that these skills are effected through ‘stage management’: a segregation between back and front ‘performing regions’ that serves to minimise potential incursions, leaks, disruptions and faux pas that may undermine the leader’s performance. Further, we suggest that Burke’s (1966) observations in relation to the importance of scene setting offer important insights into the impact of leader storytelling and narrative on followers. We revise and extend Gardner and Avolio’s (1998) dramaturgical model of the charismatic relationship in order to reflect these observations, and go on to apply this model to an analysis of three public performances by a case-study leader — Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. We examine Jobs’ performances as discursive texts, exploring the ways in which he uses them, through stage management, to practice narrative and storytelling and explore how, through these discursive activities, he is able to define himself and his world for his followers. In doing so, we empirically demonstrate and extend the utility of the dramaturgical metaphor to the study of charismatic leadership

Aesthetics · Art · Charisma · Charismatic authority · Drama · Epistemology · Identity (music · Linguistics · Literature · Media studies · Metaphor · Narrative · Narrative inquiry · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Storytelling · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Visual Culture and Art Theory

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