ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 argues that in order to understand the complexities of leadership, we also need to consider more relational aspects, which tend to be overlooked by much leadership research. To do this, we pay close attention to those stories which are told in everyday workplace interactions by different individuals – who, due to their standing within their institution or wider society, could be referred to as “leaders”. In particular, we focus on those stories (and the social practices they perform) that contain a humorous element and that are often perceived as amusing by their audience. Using interactional sociolinguistics as an approach, we explore how such humorous narratives may contribute to constructing and enacting authentic leadership. In line with this interest, a central question of the chapter is, “how do the tellers portray themselves in and through these stories?” This question is particularly interesting in those narratives where the speakers use self-denigrating humour to supposedly put themselves down, thereby portraying themselves as approachable, human, and humble – which are all characteristics associated with authentic rather than heroic leadership.
