Discursive Leadership

Gail Fairhurst (Ph.D., University of Oregon; M.A., Ohio State University; B.A., Bowling Green State University) is considered to the be one of the top leadership scholars working in the Communication dis­cipline (her research interests focus primarily upon leadership communication and language analysis in organizations: leadership communication and organizational change, leader-follower relationships, and various forms of discourse analysis in organizations). Among her numerous awards are: the 2003 McMicken College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Distinguished Research; the 2003 ICA Top Three Paper award from the Organizational Communication Division; the 1994 NCA Best Article Award for Organizational Communication; the 1997 NCA Best Book Award for Organizational Communication; the 1999 ICA Outstanding Member Award for research and contributions to the discipline; and several Top Papers honors at international conferences. Fairhurst is co-author of the Jossey-Bass management series book, The Art of Framing: Managing the Language of Leadership. This book was the 1997 recipient of the National Communication Association′s Best Book Award. To date, it has sold more than 12,000 copies.In addition to numerous book chapters, she is widely published in both communication and organizational science journals, including Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Management Communication Quarterly, Communication Yearbook, Journal of Applied Communication Research, The Communication Review, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organiza­tion Science, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. She has two chapters in the New Handbook of Organizational Communication and one in the forthcoming International Handbook of Organizational Discourse Analysis. Editorial board credits include Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Journal of Communication, Management Communication Quarterly, Jour­nal of Applied Communication Research, Communication Education, Women′s Studies in Communica­tion, and Communication Quarterly.For more than 20 years, Fairhurst has worked as a process consultant, executive coach, and trainer for a variety of organizations, including Procter and Gamble, Boeing, U.S. Air Force, General Electric, Kroger, Fluor Daniel, Merrill Lynch, State Farm Insurance, Lenders Service Inc., Cincinnati Bell, Children′s Hos­pital of Cincinnati, and the Optimum Group among others. Her responsibilities have included leadership development for men and women, communication audits, culture diagnosis and change, team building, and presentation skills.

"Citing the well known adage that there are as many definitions of leadership as there are leadership scholars, Fairhurst acknowledges the contributions which psychologists have made to leadership research, before probing the inevitable limitations to their formidable body of work.  Fairhurst′s work is also thought provoking on the issue of authenticity on the part of leaders."—HUMAN RELATIONS

• 1: Two Traditions2: Sequence and Temporal Form3: Membership Categorization4: Disciplinary Power5: Self-Identities, Interpretive Repertoires6: Narrative Logics7: Material Mediations8: Praxis and More ConversationAppendices