ABSTRACT
This chapter considers leadership in relation to a context which most contemporary leadership theories have little to say about, that of the supervisory, first-line level of management. It examines existing research so as to gain an understanding of the empirical context in which the work of first-line managers takes place. The chapter also considers the expectations the proceeding analysis implies for leaders, followers and the leader-follower relationships, as per the remaining elements of our theory-building model. It identifies for supervisory leadership entails an abiding concern to enhance human well-being through supporting acts and activities that foster individual and collective well-being, experiences that may merely be 'slipped in' to the bounded conditions that organizational life routinely entails. Supervisory leadership which supports a work group to forge itself into a community built on an ethic of care and respect will provide a counter-weight to organizational demands, creating a space in which our shared humanity can shine through to sustain and strengthen us.
