ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the key concepts associated with the social constructionist perspective on relational leadership and then moves on to examine the notion of sensemaking and the processes associated with it. Socio-constructionist perspectives of leadership have become increasingly influential and have sought to challenge the positivistic, scientific approach that has dominated much of the research and literature to this point. G. Fairhurst and D. Grant provides an overview of the differing perspectives that dominate the social constructionist tradition, and highlight some important differences in the way leadership has been traditionally studied from a psychological or positivistic perspective. The notion that there are multiple truths, and the rejection of an objective reality among several perspectives, severely constrains the extent to which research insights can be generalised into a wider corpus of knowledge that has practical application for all organisations. Reflection enables individuals to critique their taken-for-granted assumptions in order to become more receptive to alternative perspectives of organising.
