Co-Production of Leadership Activities

Abstract

In many public sector organizations, leadership is co-produced by the leader and subordinates and other stakeholders involved in human interactions. Co-production happens on the micro-interaction level between organizational members in organizations. It is the interactions between people that over time generate patterns of leadership activities. Accordingly, we must distinguish leadership activities from the individual leader. Different stakeholders create framework conditions for leadership, influenced by the dynamics of power and contextual boundaries, and as such, they co-produce leadership. Co-production of leadership is an important perspective infrequently explored in the co-production literature. For researchers, this means shifting attention away from the individual leader towards processes of co-production. A co-production perspective provides leaders themselves with a deeper understanding of what it means to lead and also gives them an opportunity to reflect on what constitutes leadership activities.