Fact and Fantasy about Leadership (New Horizons in Leadership Studies Series)

Citation

Hughes, L.W. (2013), "Fact and Fantasy about Leadership (New Horizons in Leadership Studies Series)", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 101-103. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731311289992

Not in the 30 years since Meindl's (Meindl et al., 1985; Meindl, 1998) romance theory of leadership has the discipline been challenged as Micha Popper has in his latest book. In Fact and Fantasy About Leadership the prolific Popper provides another treatise on leadership written in an accessible tone yet rigorous in its reference to established and validated leadership theories. Popper's book is a product of academic self‐reflection filled with transparent notions of leadership and its study.

The volume contains an introduction, conclusion and four chapters. The chapters are titled: Another book about leadership?; Leadership as a psychological phenomenon; Fictionalization of leadership, and The big picture. References are listed at the end of each chapter with a comprehensive bibliography that follows the conclusion. A comprehensive index concludes the book. The reader is spared images theory models as well as oversimplified process models more simply explained in the narrative. Therefore there are no figures or tables in the book.

The introduction contains a justification for another book on leadership. Reflections and remembrances across a considerable career lead the reader into a reflective study on leadership. From the first page, Popper admonishes the reader of the need to break with established paradigms and take a reflexive approach to understand a vast and complex discipline that poses more questions than are ever answered through research. Another introductory explanation is of the term “fantasy” in the title: “[…] the word fantasy here is not used in the sense of illusion, but rather in the sense of imaginative conceptualization” (p. 11).

In order to emphasize the importance of studying leadership from a variety of perspectives, the first chapter (Another book about leadership?) contains a variety of examples of good and unethical leadership. Follower perceptions of leaders and rulers are contrasted in their abilities to make “cruel” decisions, and the common leader quality of vision is shown to not always have been the impetus for decisions of commonly acknowledged great leaders.

Pursuing the notion of leadership as a psychological phenomenon, Popper uses Chapter 2 to remind the academy that the evolution of leadership study has moved from psychological study draped in the togs of the natural sciences to personality and behavioral research, and styles. Following this is a treatment of our unconscious attraction to leaders and the needs of followers to project their need to an actor they infer to have the leadership qualities necessary for the situation. The strength and role of narratives and the legends and stories associated with leaders concludes this chapter.

The third chapter is considerably deeper than can be addressed in this review and is, in itself, the most powerful contribution. Building on Chapter 2, Popper addresses the fictionalization of leaders and the creation of a leadership mythology. Using legendary US President Abraham Lincoln, Popper provides evidence of a common perspective of a historical figure based on a series of anecdotes that perhaps have become “an educational imperative” (p. 52). Although Lincoln presided over some of the country's most trying moments, he was not necessarily the most accessible or engaging leader. There are examples of other presidents who fit this more so than Lincoln, but the mythology accompanying his memory is powerful enough to render other leaders into obscurity and preserve Lincoln's memory over several generations. Popper continues by explaining the environmental factors of the Lincoln's time and the concepts of collective memories and identities and how a myth is built and a legend born.

In the fourth chapter, the author brings a strategic perspective in moving from a social psychological perspective to a macro view. The influence of groups on individual perception and overt displays of opinion are well established in the social sciences. Popper offers the work of Milgram, Asch, and others to illustrate this well‐known point and bridge the distance between the micro and macro views of leadership. In the close of this important chapter Popper indicates that a leader's actions speak far more loudly than simple declarations and carry considerable symbolic meaning. This is reminiscent of Avolio and Luthans's authentic leadership model and its transparency dimension (Luthans and Avolio, 2003).

The conclusion is where the story unravels slightly. Instead of the powerful synopsis expected after reading the impactful third and fourth chapters the final pages of narrative contains a turn toward the long‐time debate about basic vs applied research. While an important distinction to make, these comments seem more appropriate to Chapter 1 rather than in the opening of the conclusion. The intent was to provide readers with more reflection, but seem out of place here. The conclusion quickly turns to the commentary a reader might expect after the foregoing chapters. Political leadership, leadership in organizations, and research on leadership are reviewed and important points emphasized.

In Fact and Fantasy About Leadership, Micha Popper gives the anticipating reader an insightful discussion of the important role of followers’ perceptions in the study of leaders and leadership. The myth‐making and legend building of a list of historical leaders support Popper's reflections upon a distinguished career in teaching leadership and developing leaders. In the opinion of this reviewer, Popper's work formalizes many current discussions in academic circles and portends new and interesting research streams in a discipline that promises much more conceptual and empirical ground to plow.