The SAGE Handbook of Leadership

A comprehensive exploration of leadership through diverse frameworks and critical perspectives

SLBC+3

Created by Magnus Larsson, Sage Publishing Limited, Brigid Carroll and 3 more

Explore the complexities of leadership by examining its social, psychological, and critical dimensions. Gain a deeper understanding of how leadership operates in different organizational and cultural settings, and discover how contemporary issues like gender and power influence leadership practices.

Sage Publishing | May 2026 | 600 min

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LevelIntermediate

CategoriesTech Powered Professional, Team Management and People Leadership

1Pluralism in studies on plural leadership: Analysis and perspectives
2Leadership and practice theories: Reconstructing leadership as a phenomenon
3Leadership in interaction
4The quality of relationships: An exploration of current leader–member exchange (LMX) research and future possibilities
5Embodying who we are: Social identity and leadership
6Romance of leadership
7What is ‘functional' about distributed leadership in teams?
8Followership
9Leadership as contextualised personality traits
10Implicit leadership and followership theories: From the leader/follower within and between to leaders/followers in plural and in flux
11Leadership, emotion regulation and sense-making
12Authentic leadership or authenticity in leadership? Finding a better home for our leadership aspirations
13Redefining followership: Towards an expansive construct of the ‘followers' of charismatic leaders in entrepreneurial organisations
14Leadership development: Past, present and future
15Psychoanalytic approaches
16Leadership beyond the leader to relationship quality
17The myth of the passions: Reason, emotions and ethics in leadership
18Responsible leadership: From theory building to impact mobilisation
19Self-regulatory focus and leadership: It's all about context
20Critiquing leadership and gender research through a feminist lens
21Problematising communication and providing inspiration: The potential of a CCO perspective for leadership studies
22Leading as aesthetic and artful practice: It's not always pretty
23Process theory approaches to leadership
24Technology and leadership
25Indigenous leadership as a conscious adaptive system
26Leadership through history: Rethinking the present and future of leadership via a critical appreciation of its past
27Temporal considerations in leadership and followership
28Rebuilding leadership theory through literature
29How and why is context important in leadership?
30Leadership within ‘alternatives'
31Leadership and culture
32From ‘leadership' to ‘leading': Power relations, polyarchy and projects
33In defence of hesitant leadership: An ancient Chinese perspective
34Popular culture and leadership
35The impact of context on healthcare leadership
36On destructive leadership
37Leadership and its alternatives
38Paradoxes in agentic and communal leadership
39Leadership dialectics
40Care and caring leadership: Positive attractions and critical asymmetries
41Politicising the leader's body: From oppressive realities to affective possibilities
42Leadership as (new) material(ities) practices: Intra-acting, diffracting and agential-cutting with Karen Barad
43Leadership representation: A critical path to equity

What You Will Learn

You will build your knowledge by exploring leadership from foundational theories to modern critical perspectives. Through real-world examples and practical analysis, you will connect abstract concepts to everyday leadership challenges, helping you apply what you learn to your own context.

Key Features

Understand how social and psychological factors shape leadership behavior
Analyze leadership through critical perspectives including gender and power dynamics
Apply diverse leadership frameworks to real-world organizational challenges

Target Audience

Perfect for early-career professionals, students, and anyone new to leadership concepts. If you are looking to understand leadership from multiple angles and want to apply these insights to organizational or cultural settings, you will find this course especially valuable. No advanced background required-just curiosity and a desire to grow.

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