Abstract
This article examines leadership in practice through an investigation of how 62 managers (including project leaders), competing in a cutting-edge environment, perceive and describe the characteristics of everyday leadership. Based on the common notion of fragmentation in managerial work, as well as the unfortunate lack of understanding of how managerial work relates to the overall work processes of the organization, the article addresses the integrated job of managing (e.g., see Barley and Kunda, 1992; Hales, 1986, 1999; Mintzberg, 1994). In this study, everyday leadership is uncovered as a sense-making process consisting of three sets of activities — interpretations, constant adjustments and formulations of temporary solutions. Another striking feature of everyday leadership is that, to a considerable extent, it is event-driven. We therefore suggest that everyday leadership, as an event-driven activity rather than an intention-driven activity, should focus on skills such as improvisation and the ability to tune in.