The New Psychology of Leadership

1

The old psychology of leadership: Great men and the cult of personality

Leadership in history: The âgreat manâ and his charisma

The political decline of the âgreat manâ approach: The impact of the âgreat dictatorsâ

The standardization of leadership: Personality models and their failings

The biographical approach: Looking for the roots of greatness in personal histories

The theoretical deficiency of individualistic models

The political deficiency of individualistic models

The faulty definition of leadership

Conclusion: Five criteria for a useful psychology of leadership

2

The current psychology of leadership: Issues of context and contingency, transaction and transformation

The importance of context and contingency

The importance of followers

The importance of that âspecial somethingâ

Conclusion: The need for a new psychology of leadership

3

Foundations for the new psychology of leadership: Social identity and self-categorization

Social identity and group behavior

Social identity and collective power

Defining social identities

Conclusion: Setting the agenda for a new psychology of leadership

4

Being one of us: Leaders as in-group prototypes

The importance of standing for the group

Prototypicality and leadership effectiveness

Prototypicality and leadership stereotypes

Prototypicality and the creativity of leaders

Conclusion: To lead us, leaders must represent âusâ

5

Doing it for us: Leaders as in-group champions

The importance of fairness

From fairness to group interest

Clarifying the group interest

Conclusion: To engage followers, leadersâ actions and visions must promote group interests

6

Crafting a sense of us: Leaders as entrepreneurs of identity

The complex relationship between reality, representativeness, and leadership

Social identities as world-making resources

Who can mobilize us? The importance of defining category prototypes

Who is mobilized? The importance of defining category boundaries

What is the nature of mobilization? The importance of defining category content

Conclusion: Leaders are masters not slaves of identity

7

Making us matter: Leaders as embedders of identity

Identity as a moderator of the relationship between authority and power

Leaders as artists of identity

Leaders as impresarios of identity

Leaders as engineers of identity

Conclusion: Leadership and the production of power both center on the hard but rewarding work of identity management

8

The pragmatics of identity leadership: Being effective in the world

The nature of effective leadership

The nature of ineffective leadership

A case study of the pragmatics of identity leadership: The COVID-19 pandemic

Conclusion: Identity leadership is practical because it is grounded in well-evidenced integrative theory

9

The politics of identity leadership: Doing good and evil in the world

The intragroup dimension of identity leadership

The intergroup dimension of identity leadership

A case study of the politics of identity leadership: Donald Trump and the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol

Conclusion: Whether leadership is benign or toxic hinges on the form and content of identity leadership

10

The tools of identity leadership: Translating theory into practice