Introduction and Overview

Abstract

As the experience of our world has become more chaotic, our understanding about leadership is beginning to change . The impact of relentless and indiscriminate change has accentuated the importance of considering not only the context but also the person, the self , of the leader. In particular, key writers in the field of leadership are now acknowledging the importance of the leader being able to act instinctively and intuitively to the unique demands of their immediate environment. While this chapter strongly supports the sentiments expressed by authors seeking an urgent reconceptualisation of our understanding of leadership , it also goes beyond this goal. This chapter explains how it is necessary to reconstruct, rather than just reconceptualise, our understanding of leadership. Reconceptualisation only calls for a shift in our cognitive thinking while a reconstruction challenges our fundamental values and beliefs . If we want to align thinking with acting, then we must change values and beliefs, and this demands that we reconstruct, and not just reconceptualise, our understanding of leadership.