Pastoral power in leadership work: the relational leadership idiom in the construction industry
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management
ISSN: 1746-5648
Article publication date: 3 November 2022
Issue publication date: 22 March 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the literature on pastoral power, a term introduced by Foucault that denotes a specific form of authority based on the subordinate's open communication regarding aspirations, interests and personal concerns, having the full faith in the leader's care of the subordinate's welfare, this article report empirical material from a study of Swedish construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Leadership practices are contingent on context and situation, and over time, authoritative leadership practices have been complemented by relational leadership that increasingly emphasizes the bilateral communication between manager and subordinate. The more communicative and “soft” leadership idiom may have both benefits and incur unanticipated consequences and conditions that need to be studied on basis of empirical materials.
Findings
Managers in the construction industry emphasize how subordinates increasingly turn to their closest managers to address a variety of concerns. Even though managers recognizes the value of providing personalized support, there is a risk that such a leadership idiom distract both managers and subordinates, i.e. counseling activities consume too much resources, making agents less prone to fully attend to proper project goals.
Originality/value
To consider contemporary leadership practices as partially premised on pastoral power provides new analytical possibilities that shed light on how leadership practice needs to correspond with new demands in the corporate setting.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Centrum för Management i Byggsektorn at Chalmers University of Technology for financially supporting this research work.
Citation
Styhre, A., Fasth, J. and Löwstedt, M. (2023), "Pastoral power in leadership work: the relational leadership idiom in the construction industry", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 84-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-10-2021-2224
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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