ABSTRACT
This chapter orients newcomers to the leadership-as-practice field by comparing related constructs on two important dimensions: "unit of analysis" and "social accomplishment". It provides an introduction to the leadership-as-practice perspective by means of central comparisons. The chapter probes into leadership studies and considers the similarities and differences of a leadership-as-practice perspective with related leadership approaches such as the leadership style approach and the relational leadership approach. It then looks outside leadership studies instead on the "as-practice" approach, outlining the similarities and differences between leadership-as-practice and other practice approaches in organization studies, namely strategy-as-practice and coordination-as-practice. The chapter refers to the distinction between entitative and relational ontology as well as between practices and practice. The overall aim of these comparisons is to "map the terrain" of a leadership-as-practice perspective and to sketch its boundaries in relation to other constructs and approaches to make more explicit its particular potential and promise.
