Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publ... more Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publications. This article explores managers’ accounts of leadership, and shows that they find it difficult to talk about the topic, offering brief definitions but very little narrative. That which was said/sayable provides insights into what was unsaid/ unsayable. Queer theory facilitates exploration of that which is difficult to talk about, and applying it to the managers’ talk allows articulation of their lay theory of leadership. This is that leaders evoke a homoerotic desire in followers such that followers are seduced into achieving organizational goals. The leader’s body, however, is absent from the scene of seduction, so organizational heteronormativity remains unchallenged. The article concludes by arguing that queer and critical leadership theorists together could turn leadership into a reverse discourse and towards a politics of pleasure at work.
The leadership development industry regularly claims to aid in developing effective, ethical lead... more The leadership development industry regularly claims to aid in developing effective, ethical leaders, using 360-degree psychometric assessments as key tools for so doing. This paper analyses the effects of such tools on those subjected to and subjectivised by them from a Foucauldian perspective. We argue that instead of encouraging ethical leadership such instruments inculcate practices and belief systems that perpetuate falsehoods, misrepresentations and inequalities. ‘Followers’ are presumed compliant, malleable beings needing leaders to determine what is in their interests. Such techniques pursue productivity and profitability, rather than ethical leadership. We examine the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, a widely used 360-degree tool that measures transformational leadership, as an illustrative case study to substantiate these criticisms.
Leadership training and development is an enormous, global industry, worth $14 billion per year i... more Leadership training and development is an enormous, global industry, worth $14 billion per year in the United States alone. The industry’s scale and influence warrants investigation into how its fa...
Software development is one of the few professions in Europe and the USA from which women are dis... more Software development is one of the few professions in Europe and the USA from which women are disappearing. Current explanations range from unproven assumptions that women cannot write algorithms to insights into the misogynistic culture of this profession. This article argues these explanations are inadequate, and illuminates how forms of masculinity constituted within software development put women in the ambivalent position of being either female or a coder, but not both. Using a poststructural theoretical position to analyse materials from a qualitative, interview-based study, we identified three constitutive ontologies of the person circulating within the profession. The Comput♂r is presumptively male and can merge with the machine, although a subset, Geeks, cannot demerge from it. The Human, presumptively female, can communicate with people but not the machine. The Ideal developer claims the best of both, that is, adept at writing algorithms and communicating with people. Thes...
This article develops a performative theory of resistance. It uses Judith Butler’s and Karen Bara... more This article develops a performative theory of resistance. It uses Judith Butler’s and Karen Barad’s theories of performativity to explore how resistance (to organizational strategies and policies) and resistants (those who resist such strategies and policies) co-emerge, within and through complex intra-actions of entangled discourses, materialities, affect and space/time. The article uses empirical materials from a case study of the implementation of a talent management strategy. We analyse interviews with the senior managers charged with implementing the strategy, the influence of material, non-sentient actors, and the experiences of the researchers when carrying out the interviews. This leads to a theory that resistance and resistants emerge in moment-to-moment co-constitutive moves that may be invoked when identity or self is put in jeopardy. Resistance, we suggest, is the power (residing with resistants) to say ‘no’ to organizational requirements that would otherwise threaten t...
Journal of Health Organization and Management, 2011
It is a great honour and privilege to be appointed for the new editorial team of the Journal of F... more It is a great honour and privilege to be appointed for the new editorial team of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research (JFAR). We would like to thank our predecessors Professor Hylton Menz, Professor Alan Borthwick and Mike Potter for all the hard work over the last 10 years. During this time they have served the Podiatric Community with dedication, commitment, and diligence while bringing to the journal a strong vision and a wealth of knowledge that has tremendously improved the visibility and impact of the journal. Our three predecessors have been recognised for their work as Emeritus Editors for the journal. The new editorial team will continue to seek their expert guidance for taking JFAR to further heights of recognition and readership. Professor Bowen and I have had the privilege of serving as Deputy Editor and Associate Editor, respectively for JFAR. Therefore, we understand the nuances and importance of peer review in the manuscript handling process. We believe that scientific values must be upheld in manuscripts and that the editorial team should work efficiently. The editorial team will be strengthened by new Deputy Editors (Andrew Buldt, Michelle Spruce) and Associate Editors (Cylie Williams, Anita Williams and Daniel Bonanno), as well as members of the editorial board and advisors from all over the globe. We believe that the most critical components of any scientific journal's success are the submission of high-quality manuscripts, the dedication of members of its Editorial Board, and excellence of those reviewing the manuscripts. These days, when publication in major journals can take several months after a paper is accepted, the open-access online format of JFAR provides a platform for fast publication without undue delay. Looking back over its last 10 years, the journal has published on a wide diversity of research. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the journal has been the opportunity provided to first-time authors to have their work published. There is a bias in academic publishing towards those experienced academics with established reputations, and it is vital that early career scholars are given the prospect of publishing their work. Any academic journal is by
Queer theory, understood here as a set of political/politicized practices and positions which res... more Queer theory, understood here as a set of political/politicized practices and positions which resist normative knowledge and identities, has emerged as a theoretical perspective having important emancipatory and explanatory power in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Queer ...
Journal of Health Organisation and Management, 2007
Sexual health promotion aimed at men who have sex with men (MSM) is not achieving its objective o... more Sexual health promotion aimed at men who have sex with men (MSM) is not achieving its objective of reducing the incidence of new infections of sexually transmitted diseases, notably HIV/AIDS, in the MSM population. The paper aims to raise awareness of possible unintended consequences when using visual culture and advertising techniques in the field of sexual (and other) health promotion and public health messages. Using critical textual analysis and drawing on visual culture methodology the approach is to critique current practice and suggest alternative ways to approach gay men's sexual health which are not predicated on a "model" gay man. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are constructed through sexual health promotion (SHP) literature as young, hedonistic and irrational which may serve to distance the very audience it seeks to attract and address. What may at first appear to be a targeted and helpful initiative to raise awareness may inadvertently have the simultaneous and unanticipated effect of "selling" unsafe sex rather than promoting safe sex. This is because, first, the use of sexual imagery designed to attract attention works in unanticipated ways. Second, MSM are constructed through the images and language used in ways that may be at best unhelpful and potentially quite harmful. There are many different approaches and interventions in this field and the criticisms here may not be applicable to many of the other sources of health promotion awareness campaigns. Future research could certainly be conducted in other fields of health promotion and public health issues such as obesity, drug and alcohol abuse and smoking cessation. Health promotion practice should beware of depicting their audience in stereotypical ways. MSM could be constructed far more positively as role models to be followed instead of bad examples to be avoided. The methodology is new to this field and the findings provide an original basis for criticism of advertising techniques which have until now formed the basis of this type of public awareness-raising.
Middle managers occupy a central position in organizational hierarchies, where they are responsib... more Middle managers occupy a central position in organizational hierarchies, where they are responsible for implementing senior management plans by ensuring junior staff fulfil their roles. However, explorations of the identity of the middle manager offer contradictory insights. This article develops a theory of the identity of the middle manager using a theoretical framework offered by the philosopher Judith Butler and empirical material from focus groups of middle managers discussing their work. We use personal pronoun analysis to analyse the identity work they undertake while talking between themselves. We suggest that middle managers move between contradictory subject positions that both conform with and resist normative managerial identities, and we also illuminate how those moves are invoked. The theory we offer is that middle managers are both controlled and controllers, and resisted and resisters. We conclude that rather than being slotted into organizational hierarchies, middle...
Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publ... more Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publications. This paper explores managers' accounts of leadership, and shows that they find it difficult to talk about the topic, offering brief definitions but very little narrative. That which was said/sayable provides insights into what was unsaid/unsayable. Queer theory facilitates exploration of that which is difficult to talk about, and applying it to the managers' talk allows articulation of their lay theory of leadership. This is that leaders evoke a homoerotic desire in followers such that followers are seduced into achieving organizational goals. The leader's body, however, is absent from the scene of seduction, so organizational heteronormativity remains unchallenged. The paper concludes by arguing that queer and critical leadership theorists together could turn leadership into a reverse discourse and a politics of pleasure at work.
The leadership development industry regularly claims to aid in developing effective, ethical lead... more The leadership development industry regularly claims to aid in developing effective, ethical leaders, using 360-degree psychometric assessments as key tools for so doing. This paper analyses the effects of such tools on those subjected to and subjectivised by them from a Foucauldian perspective. We argue that instead of encouraging ethical leadership such instruments inculcate practices and belief systems that perpetuate falsehoods, misrepresentations and inequalities. 'Followers' are presumed compliant, malleable beings needing leaders to determine what is in their interests. Such techniques pursue productivity and profitability, rather than ethical leadership. We examine the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, a widely used 360-degree tool that measures transformational leadership, as an illustrative case study to substantiate these criticisms.
Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publ... more Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publications. This article explores managers’ accounts of leadership, and shows that they find it difficult to talk about the topic, offering brief definitions but very little narrative. That which was said/sayable provides insights into what was unsaid/ unsayable. Queer theory facilitates exploration of that which is difficult to talk about, and applying it to the managers’ talk allows articulation of their lay theory of leadership. This is that leaders evoke a homoerotic desire in followers such that followers are seduced into achieving organizational goals. The leader’s body, however, is absent from the scene of seduction, so organizational heteronormativity remains unchallenged. The article concludes by arguing that queer and critical leadership theorists together could turn leadership into a reverse discourse and towards a politics of pleasure at work.
The leadership development industry regularly claims to aid in developing effective, ethical lead... more The leadership development industry regularly claims to aid in developing effective, ethical leaders, using 360-degree psychometric assessments as key tools for so doing. This paper analyses the effects of such tools on those subjected to and subjectivised by them from a Foucauldian perspective. We argue that instead of encouraging ethical leadership such instruments inculcate practices and belief systems that perpetuate falsehoods, misrepresentations and inequalities. ‘Followers’ are presumed compliant, malleable beings needing leaders to determine what is in their interests. Such techniques pursue productivity and profitability, rather than ethical leadership. We examine the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, a widely used 360-degree tool that measures transformational leadership, as an illustrative case study to substantiate these criticisms.
Leadership training and development is an enormous, global industry, worth $14 billion per year i... more Leadership training and development is an enormous, global industry, worth $14 billion per year in the United States alone. The industry’s scale and influence warrants investigation into how its fa...
Software development is one of the few professions in Europe and the USA from which women are dis... more Software development is one of the few professions in Europe and the USA from which women are disappearing. Current explanations range from unproven assumptions that women cannot write algorithms to insights into the misogynistic culture of this profession. This article argues these explanations are inadequate, and illuminates how forms of masculinity constituted within software development put women in the ambivalent position of being either female or a coder, but not both. Using a poststructural theoretical position to analyse materials from a qualitative, interview-based study, we identified three constitutive ontologies of the person circulating within the profession. The Comput♂r is presumptively male and can merge with the machine, although a subset, Geeks, cannot demerge from it. The Human, presumptively female, can communicate with people but not the machine. The Ideal developer claims the best of both, that is, adept at writing algorithms and communicating with people. Thes...
This article develops a performative theory of resistance. It uses Judith Butler’s and Karen Bara... more This article develops a performative theory of resistance. It uses Judith Butler’s and Karen Barad’s theories of performativity to explore how resistance (to organizational strategies and policies) and resistants (those who resist such strategies and policies) co-emerge, within and through complex intra-actions of entangled discourses, materialities, affect and space/time. The article uses empirical materials from a case study of the implementation of a talent management strategy. We analyse interviews with the senior managers charged with implementing the strategy, the influence of material, non-sentient actors, and the experiences of the researchers when carrying out the interviews. This leads to a theory that resistance and resistants emerge in moment-to-moment co-constitutive moves that may be invoked when identity or self is put in jeopardy. Resistance, we suggest, is the power (residing with resistants) to say ‘no’ to organizational requirements that would otherwise threaten t...
Journal of Health Organization and Management, 2011
It is a great honour and privilege to be appointed for the new editorial team of the Journal of F... more It is a great honour and privilege to be appointed for the new editorial team of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research (JFAR). We would like to thank our predecessors Professor Hylton Menz, Professor Alan Borthwick and Mike Potter for all the hard work over the last 10 years. During this time they have served the Podiatric Community with dedication, commitment, and diligence while bringing to the journal a strong vision and a wealth of knowledge that has tremendously improved the visibility and impact of the journal. Our three predecessors have been recognised for their work as Emeritus Editors for the journal. The new editorial team will continue to seek their expert guidance for taking JFAR to further heights of recognition and readership. Professor Bowen and I have had the privilege of serving as Deputy Editor and Associate Editor, respectively for JFAR. Therefore, we understand the nuances and importance of peer review in the manuscript handling process. We believe that scientific values must be upheld in manuscripts and that the editorial team should work efficiently. The editorial team will be strengthened by new Deputy Editors (Andrew Buldt, Michelle Spruce) and Associate Editors (Cylie Williams, Anita Williams and Daniel Bonanno), as well as members of the editorial board and advisors from all over the globe. We believe that the most critical components of any scientific journal's success are the submission of high-quality manuscripts, the dedication of members of its Editorial Board, and excellence of those reviewing the manuscripts. These days, when publication in major journals can take several months after a paper is accepted, the open-access online format of JFAR provides a platform for fast publication without undue delay. Looking back over its last 10 years, the journal has published on a wide diversity of research. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the journal has been the opportunity provided to first-time authors to have their work published. There is a bias in academic publishing towards those experienced academics with established reputations, and it is vital that early career scholars are given the prospect of publishing their work. Any academic journal is by
Queer theory, understood here as a set of political/politicized practices and positions which res... more Queer theory, understood here as a set of political/politicized practices and positions which resist normative knowledge and identities, has emerged as a theoretical perspective having important emancipatory and explanatory power in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Queer ...
Journal of Health Organisation and Management, 2007
Sexual health promotion aimed at men who have sex with men (MSM) is not achieving its objective o... more Sexual health promotion aimed at men who have sex with men (MSM) is not achieving its objective of reducing the incidence of new infections of sexually transmitted diseases, notably HIV/AIDS, in the MSM population. The paper aims to raise awareness of possible unintended consequences when using visual culture and advertising techniques in the field of sexual (and other) health promotion and public health messages. Using critical textual analysis and drawing on visual culture methodology the approach is to critique current practice and suggest alternative ways to approach gay men's sexual health which are not predicated on a "model" gay man. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are constructed through sexual health promotion (SHP) literature as young, hedonistic and irrational which may serve to distance the very audience it seeks to attract and address. What may at first appear to be a targeted and helpful initiative to raise awareness may inadvertently have the simultaneous and unanticipated effect of "selling" unsafe sex rather than promoting safe sex. This is because, first, the use of sexual imagery designed to attract attention works in unanticipated ways. Second, MSM are constructed through the images and language used in ways that may be at best unhelpful and potentially quite harmful. There are many different approaches and interventions in this field and the criticisms here may not be applicable to many of the other sources of health promotion awareness campaigns. Future research could certainly be conducted in other fields of health promotion and public health issues such as obesity, drug and alcohol abuse and smoking cessation. Health promotion practice should beware of depicting their audience in stereotypical ways. MSM could be constructed far more positively as role models to be followed instead of bad examples to be avoided. The methodology is new to this field and the findings provide an original basis for criticism of advertising techniques which have until now formed the basis of this type of public awareness-raising.
Middle managers occupy a central position in organizational hierarchies, where they are responsib... more Middle managers occupy a central position in organizational hierarchies, where they are responsible for implementing senior management plans by ensuring junior staff fulfil their roles. However, explorations of the identity of the middle manager offer contradictory insights. This article develops a theory of the identity of the middle manager using a theoretical framework offered by the philosopher Judith Butler and empirical material from focus groups of middle managers discussing their work. We use personal pronoun analysis to analyse the identity work they undertake while talking between themselves. We suggest that middle managers move between contradictory subject positions that both conform with and resist normative managerial identities, and we also illuminate how those moves are invoked. The theory we offer is that middle managers are both controlled and controllers, and resisted and resisters. We conclude that rather than being slotted into organizational hierarchies, middle...
Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publ... more Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publications. This paper explores managers' accounts of leadership, and shows that they find it difficult to talk about the topic, offering brief definitions but very little narrative. That which was said/sayable provides insights into what was unsaid/unsayable. Queer theory facilitates exploration of that which is difficult to talk about, and applying it to the managers' talk allows articulation of their lay theory of leadership. This is that leaders evoke a homoerotic desire in followers such that followers are seduced into achieving organizational goals. The leader's body, however, is absent from the scene of seduction, so organizational heteronormativity remains unchallenged. The paper concludes by arguing that queer and critical leadership theorists together could turn leadership into a reverse discourse and a politics of pleasure at work.
The leadership development industry regularly claims to aid in developing effective, ethical lead... more The leadership development industry regularly claims to aid in developing effective, ethical leaders, using 360-degree psychometric assessments as key tools for so doing. This paper analyses the effects of such tools on those subjected to and subjectivised by them from a Foucauldian perspective. We argue that instead of encouraging ethical leadership such instruments inculcate practices and belief systems that perpetuate falsehoods, misrepresentations and inequalities. 'Followers' are presumed compliant, malleable beings needing leaders to determine what is in their interests. Such techniques pursue productivity and profitability, rather than ethical leadership. We examine the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, a widely used 360-degree tool that measures transformational leadership, as an illustrative case study to substantiate these criticisms.
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Papers by Hugh Lee