Competing discourses of leadership: Transformational Leadership as blurring mechanism for masculinities in Denmark

SummaryThis paper contributes to research on leadership, by incorporating insights from the literature on men and masculinities. Empirically, the paper is based on the narratives of three Danish (male) leaders struggling with tensions in discourses of leadership in an interview context. Re-reading of the transcripts in a gender perspective revealed that an understanding of nascent intertwined discourses of charisma (masculinities) and participation (femininities) was implicitly constructed in the interviews. This gave rise to what could be labeled as a transformational leadership discourse, whereby masculinities in leadership while remaining, are blurred.In a broader perspective, a research implication is that while transformational leadership is most often introduced as being based on feminine and participative values, it should not be forgotten that male elements of leadership are still inherent in the concept, and generally in leadership of the 2000s. A certain fashion and shared meanings characterizes leadership in Denmark, relating to participation, dialogue, equity, democracy, and ethics (femininities). At the same time, corporate discourses related to charisma, result-orientation, and authority (masculinities) are present although blurred.