Chapter 2: Aesthetics in Leadership: From Absent Bodies to Social Bodily Presence

We seek to explore in this chapter the nature of the “social” in the leadership process. We find that mainstream leadership theory treats the social mainly as a cognition, as a mindful activity of people influencing each other. Our view draws on the aesthetic perspective to organizational life, on philosophical understanding of different modes of knowing, and on our scholarly observations in professional settings such as dance, music, and science. We argue for the importance of bodily knowledge and bodily presence in understanding social relations in the workplace. We found two different aesthetic conceptualizations of leadership: “the beauty of geometry” and the “the beauty of the living body.” The beauty of geometry promotes the mainstream, traditional, hierarchy-based social influence between the leader and the follower where harmony is eventually targeted. The beauty of the living body emphasizes the body as an active subject and the importance of social bodily presence. Among other things, we found listening as a key bodily skill of leadership. We suggest that the aesthetic, bodily perspective would further the discussion of leadership as a relational, social process where everyday practice in the workplace is characterized by multiple voices, arguments, and negotiation.