In a wide-ranging and provocative new study, Bert A. Spector provides a critical analysis of past and present theories of leadership. Spector asserts that our perception of leadership influences who we vote for, who we hire and promote, and ultimately, who we choose to grant our authority to. Focusing on leadership in discourse, the book sets out to explore how the notion of leadership has been articulated, studied and debated by academics, but also by practitioners, journalists, and others who seek to influence the thoughts of others. Paying particular attention to the social, economic, political, intellectual and historical forces that have helped shape the discussion, Discourse on Leadership offers an insightful historiography of leadership as a concept and considers how our understanding of it continues to evolve.

Winner, 2017 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

'Profoundly demonstrative of an intellectual history of ideas, the text has order and a strong sense of chronology and provides readers a glimpse into the mind of the historian and his art form. … This reviewer’s sense of this presentation is that it is refreshing and fits well with the author’s discourse objective. The Spector text will certainly be an essential addition to any academic library and may well be a great addition for serious students of leadership. A job well done!'

J. B. Kashner Source: CHOICE

'Writing in a lovely prose that is rare among academics, Spector reaches all the way back to Chaucer in his survey of the ongoing dialogue about the paucity of both women and racial outsiders in the C-suite. In another chapter, he traces with perception and wit the evolution of the discourse from management to general management, then on to leadership and, then, to transformation.'

David Carl Wilson Source: Philosophy of Management