Drawing on contributions from JMS, this thematic collection illustrates how leadership is a dynamic, contextually embedded phenomenon shaped by interdependent forces. Leadership research has evolved toward increasing conceptual and methodological precision, yielding refined constructs and robust empirical insights. However, the editorial argues that a singular focus on precision risks fragmenting the field and distancing scholarship from the complex realities of organizational life and that by “zooming out,” scholarship can better reflect the messy, adaptive nature of leadership and offer more actionable insights for leaders navigating today’s organizational challenges. The editorial proposes a multidimensional framework—breadth, depth, and height—to reintroduce complexity into leadership studies. Breadth captures the diversity of leadership styles and disciplinary perspectives; depth explores the psychological, symbolic, and relational undercurrents of those diverse perspectives; and height examines how diverse perspectives play out differently across hierarchical levels and systems.
The Devil is in the Details: Zooming out in Leadership Research
Hannes Leroy, Yasin Rofcanin, Chidiebere Ogbonnaya, Mirko H. Benischke, Stav Fainshmidt
Re-Envisioning a Hierarchy of Leadership Behaviours Using Insights from the Psychological Literature on Personality Traits
Marc H. Anderson, Peter Y. T. Sun
An Inconvenient Truth: A Comprehensive Examination of the Added Value (or Lack Thereof) of Leadership Measures
Nathan Eva, Joshua L. Howard, Robert C. Liden, Alexandre J.S. Morin, Gary Schwarz
Toward a Framework of Leader Character in Organizations
Mary M. Crossan, Alyson Byrne, Gerard H. Seijts, Mark Reno, Lucas Monzani, Jeffrey Gandz
A Theory of Leadership Meta-Talk and the Talking-Doing Gap
Thomas Fischer, Mats Alvesson
Extending the Turn to Work: New Directions in the Study of Social-Symbolic Work in Organizational Life
Nelson Phillips, Thomas B. Lawrence, Brianna Barker Caza, Emily D. Heaphy, Hannes Leroy
Being Aware of Death: How and when Mortality Cues Incite Leader Expediency Versus Servant Leadership Behaviour
Chidiebere Ogbonnaya, Mayowa T. Babalola, Moazzam Ali, Shuang Ren, Muhammed Usman, Zhining Wang
Kiss-Up-Kick-Down to Get Ahead: A Resource Perspective on How, When, Why, and With Whom Middle Managers Use Ingratiatory and Exploitative Behaviours to Advance Their Careers
Fabiola H. Gerpott, Niels Van Quaquebeke
Health Among Leaders: Positive and Negative Affect, Engagement and Burnout, Forgiveness and Revenge
Laura M. Little, Bret L. Simmons, Debra L. Nelson
Leaders’ Networking Behaviours in a Time of Crisis: A Qualitative Study on the Frontline against COVID-19
Stefano Tasselli, Alessandro Sancino
Speaking Up in the Operating Room: How Team Leaders Promote Learning in Interdisciplinary Action Teams
Amy C. Edmondson
The Political Dynamics of Sustainable Coffee: Contested Value Regimes and the Transformation of Sustainability
David Levy, Juliane Reinecke, Stephan Manning
CEO Portraits and the Authenticity Paradox*
Eric Guthey, Brad Jackson
