Self-Leadership: A Paradoxical Core of Organizational Behavior

Posted: 20 Feb 2019

See all articles by Greg L. Stewart

Greg L. Stewart

University of Iowa

Stephen Courtright

University of Iowa

Charles C. Manz

University of Massachusetts Amherst - Isenberg School of Management

Date Written: January 2019

Abstract

This review focuses on the paradoxical concept of self-leadership—defined as a comprehensive self-influence process capturing how individuals motivate themselves to complete work that is naturally motivating or work that must be done but is not naturally motivating—as a fundamental process that challenges many traditional assumptions in organizational psychology and organizational behavior. We first present a historical review that traces the roots of self-leadership to early psychological theory and research. We next briefly summarize research related to self-leadership at both the individual and team levels of analysis. We then discuss four paradoxes associated with self-leadership: the paradox of self-leadership depletion and strengthening, the paradox of self-leadership through collaboration, the paradox of me-but-not-you self-leadership, and the paradox of needing self-leadership to improve self-leadership. We conclude with guidelines for future research and practice.

Suggested Citation

Stewart, Greg L. and Courtright, Stephen and Manz, Charles C., Self-Leadership: A Paradoxical Core of Organizational Behavior (January 2019). Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Vol. 6, Issue 1, pp. 47-67, 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3336078 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015130

Greg L. Stewart

University of Iowa ( email )

341 Schaeffer Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1097
United States

Stephen Courtright

University of Iowa

341 Schaeffer Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1097
United States

Charles C. Manz (Contact Author)

University of Massachusetts Amherst - Isenberg School of Management ( email )

Amherst, MA 01003-4910
United States

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