Leadership On Demand: Followers as initiators and inhibitors of managerial leadership

•We investigate the perceived need/demand of managerial leadership in two R&D-units.•We found that the ‘followers’ in our study to a large extend initiate and inhibit managerial leadership efforts targeting themselves.•We propose ‘Leadership On Demand’ as a useful metaphor for this rather ‘follower-managed’ form of managerial leadership.•The study challenges the dominating assumption regarding the manager's role in managerial leadership.•The study thereby contributes to the growing literature on (pro)active followers.

SummaryA key aspect of leadership is the followers’ constructions of its value and relevance. Based on two empirical, qualitative case studies, this paper highlights the importance of the ‘demand’ for leadership when leader–follower relationships are established. We further discuss how followers influence, inhibit and initiate managerial leadership (i.e. leadership acts from their formal superior targeting themselves), and suggest ‘Leadership On Demand’ as a useful metaphor when trying to conceptualize the leader–follower dynamics in our study.