The Sociomateriality of Leadership: A Ventriloquial Perspective

With the parallel expansion of both leadership research and the use of ventriloquism within communication studies, this book addresses the lack of connection between the two, arguing that ventriloquial analyses can add significant insights to leadership research and that leadership research can be a fruitful avenue of inquiry. Focusing on the ventriloquial approach to organising originating from the Montreal School, which emphasizes the analyses of “actions through which someone or something makes someone or something else say or do things”, the book offers a new and exciting way of looking at the materiality of leadership. Drawing on ventriloquial analyses of naturally-occurring workplace interaction; interviews with key organisational players; and training sessions about leadership, the author posits that other-than-human actants affect many areas of leadership and organisational communication. Offering fresh insight into leadership practice, this book will be an essential read for scholars and students of organisational communication, leadership, and management.