Aesthetic Leadership

Aesthetic Leadership Jonathan E. Schroeder University of Exeter Ian Fillis Stirling University

Forthcoming (2010) in Research Handbook on Political and Civic Leadership Richard Couto, ed. London: Sage.

Aesthetic Leadership Jonathan E. Schroeder Ian Fillis DRAFT

Aesthetic leadership is an important, but little understood, aspect of leadership. This chapter briefly examines the literature on aesthetics and considers what can be learned from the various interfaces aesthetics has with other domains, such as art, philosophy and leadership. It begins with brief discussions of aesthetics, art and management studies. Several exemplars of aesthetic leaders are presented. Applications to organizations are discussed, and the creative industries, an American artist, and an Arab-Israeli orchestra are used as applied case studies of managerial, civic, and political forms of aesthetic leadership. The chapter concludes with future directions for research, and provides a list of additional entries in the encyclopedia, and well as references and further readings. Several approaches to aesthetic leadership can be identified, each drawing upon slightly different conceptions of leaders and how aesthetics interacts with leadership.. Generally, these approaches share common assumptions that aesthetic leadership is distinct from traditional forms of leadership, and agree that it is a necessary complement to those forms. In addition, they suggest that aesthetic leadership is closely connected to creativity and/or artistic insights. Aesthetic leadership refers to leadership in a broader,

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civic, cultural and political arena than many models of leadership. However, no one approach has emerged as definitive. Hansen, Ropo and Sauer’s concept of aesthetic leadership emphasizes how followers utilize aesthetic sense and judgment in working with leaders. They identify transformational and visionary leadership, charismatic leadership, and authentic leadership as aspects of aesthetic leadership, as well as conceptual precursors to the current aesthetic turn in leadership studies. They provide a comprehensive model of aesthetic leadership and outline its’ ontological and epistemological assumptions, which hew toward social construction and the importance of embodiment. Aesthetic leadership, in their view, requires two enduring components: engagement of the senses, and a focus on the experiential (Hansen, Ropo, and Sauer, 2007). In this approach, aesthetic leadership emphasizes leader-follower relations within established frameworks of leadership in organizations. Guillet de Monthoux and his colleagues represent another approach to aesthetic leadership. They argue that leaders in business and art benefit by listening to each other, and present research-based cases demonstrate how software programmers and art curators, financial analysts and orchestra conductors, construction engineers and chefs, share aesthetic leadership talents that hold the key to transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary (Guillet de Monthoux, 2004; Ropo and Koivunen, 2002; Sjöstrand, Guillet de Monthoux and Gustafsson, 2007). This perspective focuses largely on the interaction between aesthetics and management, and between artists and managers, and

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argues for a vision of aesthetic leadership that promotes more effective and inspiring leadership. Schroeder has suggested that aesthetic leadership concerns the manner in which artists, and other aesthetic workers, perform leadership functions within groups, communities and culture, often outside established positions of authority (Schroeder, 2005). This approach emphasizes non-traditional leadership positions, and highlights leadership from a civic, cultural and political dimension, turning to cultural producers such as writers and artists as exemplars, and works within an expanded conception of leadership, beyond the bounds of traditional models of leadership within organizations or business. This essay relates aesthetic leadership to several current topics in leadership research, and outlines the assumptions and possibilities of aesthetic leadership. The creative industries provides a case study where substantial evidence can be drawn about the use of creativity as a form of leadership, which can be used to overcome resource barriers and establish competitive advantage. Research and thinking about aesthetic leadership spans several disciplines, and often encompasses management studies, art history and sociology – aesthetic leadership represents one strand within the growing field of aesthetics and management.

Aesthetics

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The concept of aesthetics originates from the Greek verb aisth (to feel) and relates to the knowledge yielded by the sensory organs. Thus, aesthetics has particular implications for the notion of aesthetic leadership where, rather than following a predetermined path of cognitive decision-making, the leader senses which appropriate paths of action should be taken. There are also close connections here with entrepreneurial behavior and decision-making. The term “aesthetics” was first used to describe the area of philosophy relating to art and beauty in Germany in the 18th century (White, 1996). Early evidence of thinking aesthetically can be found in the philosophical writings of Giambattisto Vico (1744) and Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1750) who promoted the value of poetic wisdom, or non-rational sensing, over the worth of logico-deductive thinking. Many owner/managers in the creative industries, for example, think, behave and lead in non-rational ways as they sense opportunities and exploit them. Baumgarten saw logic as the study of intellectual knowledge while aesthetics was concerned with the study of sensory knowledge. Cultivating aesthetic knowledge can result in fresh insight and awareness, irrespective of whether or not we can actually express what we experience. Aesthetic experience can be understood in three ways: firstly, as a form of tacit or unconscious sensory knowledge as opposed to intellectual knowledge; secondly, as a form of expressive, disinterested action shaped by impulse and feeling; thirdly, as a form of communication which passes on and shares particular ways of feeling (Gagliardi, 1996). Consideration of the intellectual grounding around art, artistry and beauty, or aesthetics, can help leaders to understand in a clearer way the complex nature

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of today’s business arena (Ottensmeyer, 1996). On a basic level, it can be proposed that those aesthetic values comprise an important subset of human values. For example, organizations are comprised of people and therefore by extension, aesthetics must therefore comprise part of the fabric of organizational experience and reality. Even if most organizations do not emphasize aesthetic aspects or encourage aesthetic leadership – and many leaders reveal an absence of aesthetic insight – aesthetics are always present. Aesthetic perspectives in management generally emphasize sensation, embodiment, and emotion over perception, abstraction, and cognition. Early twentieth century philosophers such as John Dewey and Irwin Edman noted that the field of aesthetics should include everyday experiences and activities. Edman believed that there is little difference between the realms of art and everyday lived experiences such as constructing a hut or a skyscraper (Edman, 1928). Art has been viewed as a form of craftsmanship, which involves the creation of expressive forms, which promote the nature of human feeling. The notion of making aesthetic experience “come alive” is transferable to the organizational setting where culture, interpretation and emotion can be used to understand organizational processes. Long before the recent spate of writing on organizational aesthetics, the executive processes of management were described as involving feeling, judgment, sense, proportion and balance and that they were a matter of art rather than science, involving aesthetic rather than logical thinking (Barnard, 1938). Mahoney (2002) considers the relevance of Barnard’s influential views for present day management education from an aesthetic perspective

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through his ability to stimulate our thinking from both scientific and artistic perspectives in order to achieve an authentic sense of organization. To hold a particular ‘aesthetic’ refers to possessing a specific set of criteria for judgment, and hence for leadership decisions. Aesthetic experience is manifested either as a form of tacit or unconscious sensory knowledge as opposed to intellectual knowledge, or as a form of expressive, disinterested action shaped by impulse and feeling or as a form of communication which passes on and shares particular ways of feeling. Strati (1999) believes that aesthetics now encapsulates the ways in which the life of an organization is understood and studied rather than serving as an organizational artifact for the organization as a whole. An aesthetic approach in an organizational sense has become increasingly grounded within an epistemology concerned with feeling, intuition and immersion. Aesthetics can then also be used to consider how these constructs impact on leadership decisions, and how intuition relates to aesthetics. Three levels of leadership intuition have been identified: 1) there are those individuals to whom intuition comes naturally; 2) those who need training in order to acquire it; and 3) those who are not able to make effective intuitive decisions.

Art, Aesthetics and Organization

In order to review the potential contribution of aesthetics to the study of leadership, material must be drawn from a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, cultural anthropology, perceptual psychology, and art history, to name a

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few. The aesthetic aspect of organizational life has slowly become part of accepted organizational theory, from its initial exclusion from the study of organizations to a gradual acceptance of its legitimacy as an appropriate aspect of organizational study (e.g., Guillet de Monthoux and Strati, 2002). Aesthetics are used to study and understand the organization, rather than merely adding value to organizational output. Moreover, aesthetics offers more than mere inspiration or “creative” insight – aesthetic leadership provides an important, complementary approach to organizational research and leadership studies. Although thinking aesthetically offers the researcher and practitioner alternatives to the mainstream thinking of a single organizational truth, it can be cryptic and difficult to grasp. There is a history of incorporating art and its artistic forms within organizational research, for example, within areas of organization as theatre (Mangham and Overington, 1987), the manager as artist (Hatch, Kostera and Kozminski, 2004) and the artist as brand manager (Schroeder, 2005). Guillet de Monthoux suggests that if managers want to learn lessons from theatrical managing, then they should dismiss the doctrine of logical management thinking and embrace the process of making art. The literature on strategic vision and leadership has tended to adopt what has been called a “logico-rational Anglo-Saxon” perspective, which, by definition, omits the more intuitive, phenomenological perspective of the “philosophy of the eye”. Guillet de Monthoux adopts an understanding of strategy, with strong links to art and aesthetics. In this way, aesthetics can be used to ‘see’ in a way that is missed by conventional managerialist perception. In his view, this is the true value of aesthetic leadership.

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Recently, there has been a growth in the consideration of business management as a form of art, while creative artistry is now viewed as a form of business activity (Guillet de Monthoux, 2004). Discourses, rather than decisions, seem to matter more for today’s innovative leaders who focus more on management as a process of social construction involving small talk, conversation and storytelling. The narrative paradigm in management studies has caused serious cracks to appear on the façade of managerial rationality. From this perspective, rationality remains as only one of many social constructs resulting from discursive practices. A distinction needs to be made between the notions of “rational” and “reasonable”. In managerial terms, there are four kinds of rationality: cognitive, intuitive, emotional and aesthetics. Cognitive rationality is concerned with analytical information processing where individuals are able to distinguish, define and link through syllogisms. But when the situation is linked with genuine uncertainty, bounded calculative reasoning is found to have shortcomings. Having an aesthetic rationality relates to the generation of an impression and experience, which is connected to an individual’s inner state. Noting that aesthetics are broadly concerned with knowledge created from sensory experiences, thoughts and feelings, Taylor and Hansen (2005) carried out a comprehensive review of the organizational aesthetic literature, categorizing it into the four areas of intellectual analysis of instrumental action, using artistic form to examine instrumental issues, intellectual analysis of aesthetics and the adoption of artistic form to understanding aesthetic issues. They note that during the Enlightenment period of the

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18th century, it was common to divide the world in an analytical sense into the three areas of instrumental, moral and aesthetic existence. In their view, organizational theorizing has tended to focus largely on efficiency and effectiveness, rather than noneconomic aspects. Taylor and Hansen categorize the various subdivisions of organizational aesthetics research using the dimensions of method (artistic versus intellectual) and content (instrumental versus aesthetic). Much prior to the current debate on rational versus irrational ways of knowing in management studies, Vico (1744) and Baumgarten (1750) promoted poetic wisdom, or non-rational sensing over logico-deductive thinking. According to Baumgarten, logic is the study of intellectual knowledge while aesthetics involves the study of sensory knowledge. At that time, of course, the rational doctrine of the Enlightenment tended to dominate over other perspectives. Over a quarter of a millennium later, a linear/rational perspective still dominates, despite increasing evidence to the contrary. So, having aesthetic knowledge can result in fresh insight and awareness; irrespective of whether or not we can actually express what we experience. Scientific management still has an influence as a particular form of organizational aesthetic which equates beauty with efficiency. Watkins and King (2002) utilize the arts in order to gain understanding of organizational performance, drawing on visual art and literature. They note that the majority of interpretations of successful organizational performance are concerned with the adoption of set rules which are to be followed. In the same way that much marketing management research is still concerned with attempting to represent the world using

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frameworks initially constructed some time ago, so too do organizations which insist on a linear/rational perspective. Watkins and King note that areas such as the arts have long moved on from this position and therefore suggest that we should analyze successful artistic performance in order to draw both inspiration and direct comparison with today’s organization generally. Art and aesthetics can be used to inform and create a discourse which can then result in the construction of an epistemological framework with which to position more critical leadership research. Carr and Hancock (2003) believe that investigating the relationship between art and aesthetics can help us to shape alternative ways of knowing, while also allowing us to reconsider what may have been missed by the adoption of logico-rational method alone. Although their work refers to the study of the organization, it can be readily adapted for wider studies of leadership. This view fits comfortably with the Fillis and Rentschler (2006) paradigm of creative marketing where artistic, situation specific solutions are seen as the most appropriate for the smaller firm and a creative marketing philosophy is instilled throughout the organization. Aesthetics are a form of knowledge, which have their own truth, since each organizational context is specific and special. There are links between aesthetics and intuition and, by extension, entrepreneurship and creativity. An aesthetic analysis of an organization can focus a number of issues – including cultural values, identity and image and style. Aesthetics as style can therefore relate to instilling and practicing a creative, entrepreneurial form of marketing. Björkman (2002) notes that the nature of markets throughout the world is changing, with product overload and consumer

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alienation. A response to this is to introduce products, which convey feelings as well as the core product benefits. The adoption of the notion of the aura helps consumers to tangibilize product values, which suggests a particular form of aesthetic customer feeling and emotion as response to creative marketing efforts. Being able to ‘see’ the aura means that the customer must have experienced the beauty of the product, service or brand. Björkman proposed that a company could evolve into an aura-company via its inherent ability to create its own ways of communication with its customers, as well as to attract them in the first place through to purchasing its products and services. Darso and Dawids (2002) develop a theoretical framework of arts in business, and note that the fact that the arts are being applied in business settings in new ways. This could potentially mean the evolution of a new research field and a new trend of aesthetic thinking and learning. A variety of terms have been adopted to describe more artistic ways of knowing, including aesthetic epistemology, aesthetic modes of learning, art as a way of knowing, and creative learning. Being able to manage requires a variety of types of knowledge, and not just the linear rational form. Nissley, for example, identifies how aesthetic epistemology, or aesthetic ways of knowing, is now being used to inform the practice of management education, drawing from a variety of art forms including music, drama and art (Nissley, 2002). Duke provides a model of aestheticbased leadership within education, focused on how leaders manifest aesthetic properties (Duke, 1986). However, in general, non-rational factors have been largely omitted from discussion on organizational aesthetics, not because they have not been acknowledged

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as legitimate inputs into the organizational process, but rather that they are difficult to study using accepted mainstream scientific methods. Warren and others are beginning to offer ways around this by presenting creative methodological problem solving perspectives based on aesthetics and sensuality (Warren, 2008). There has been some growth in alternative, non-traditional aesthetic-related management research topics but which still result in relevant and interesting data, such as sex and eroticism in organizations (Brewis and Linstead, 2000), or humor and fun. It is hoped that these more revealing avenues of exploration will complement aesthetic perspectives of leadership. Importantly, Warren comments that people display the same capacity for emotional and aesthetic experience, irrespective of whether they are inside or outside the organization, at work or at play.

Toward a Concept of Aesthetic Leadership

Aesthetics has generally been concerned with questions of beauty and the notion of universal tastes. The philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that human response to art is disinterested, which led to an ongoing debate about the relationship with visual culture. Others have argued that there is a distinct aesthetic realm, which allows people to respond to beauty in terms of color and form. Recently, artists have been called upon for aesthetic leadership in management – as leaders, practitioners, visionaries, and inspirers (e.g., Austin and Devin, 2003; Hatch, Kostera and Kozminski, 2004; Schroeder, 2006; Taylor and Ladkin, 2009, for a review). Thus, aesthetic leadership

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need not refer merely to creativity or vision; rather aesthetic leadership may emerge from insight into cultural, political, or interpersonal issues, aesthetic statements on social injustice or crucial cultural concerns, or, at a more general level, providing alternative ways of seeing problems, history, or received wisdom. In this way, aesthetic leadership may either complement or contradict more traditional leadership forms, such as politics, religion or management. It may be that aesthetic leadership draws some of its power from the position of the aesthetic producer outside conventional leadership positions. Well-known examples include Jacques-Louis David, whose famous painting The Death of Marat (1793) catalyzed support for the French revolution by shrewdly mixing fine art with propaganda. During the bloody 18th century uprising, David reorganized the Académie, an important national institution – critical for authenticating and disseminating cultural and political opinions and trends – and he produced many spectacular propagandistic events, eventually being imprisoned for his political views. Another iconic aesthetic leader, writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, drew attention to repression in the former Soviet Union, and helped make the wider world aware of the gulag, the forced labor system, and spent a writing career pointing out injustices, for which he won the Nobel prize in literature in 1970. Another example concerns the Asian-American sculptor and architect Maya Lin, whose haunting Vietnam Veteran’s memorial in Washington D.C. helped a nation – especially Vietnam veterans and their families – begin to come to terms with a tremendously debilitating and divisive epoch in American history. Lin, who, an

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undergraduate university student at the time, steadfastly refused to compromise her aesthetic principles during a bitter battle over her minimalist design, held to her strong, clear vision, as described in the Academy Award winning documentary of the rancorous debates about how the war should be memorialized (Mock, 1995). In a broader sense, aesthetic leadership also appears in civic and political campaigns, as artistic and cultural production is readily harnessed for persuasive ends (see Schroeder, 2005). For example, Couto has argued that ‘third sector’ organizations, such as voluntary associations and political action groups, play important roles in civil society (Couto, 2001), and moreover, often capitalize on what might be called aesthetic leadership. He invokes the controversial “YES” campaign in Northern Ireland, organized by a consortium of political groups intent on ratifying the Good Friday Peace Accord of 1998, which was aimed at halting the long-standing “troubles” of Northern Ireland. The campaign utilized the Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency to present a unified message, based around a simple image that resembled a traffic sign: voting yes was associated with an arrow suggesting free flowing traffic, voting no was represented by a red ‘T’ sign – a dead end (Couto, 2001). In this case, civic issues intersect with aesthetic leadership via third sector organizations, political issues, and advertising professionals. Aesthetic leadership may rest in leadership qualities of charisma, interpersonal skill or vision, yet remains elusive, and difficult to categorize or contain (see Ladkin, 2008). Often, aesthetic leaders have trained in areas somewhat distant from typical leadership or management disciplines – literature, art, or theatre, for example – and this

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training may offer a capacity for innovative insight. However, insight or vision alone remains insufficient; aesthetic leadership requires a rare combination of desire, determination, and drive, along with a prodigious aesthetic gift. This is not to suggest that aesthetic leadership need recapitulate a trait-based model of leadership (cf. Wood, 2006), rather, in pointing to aesthetics as a potential realm and practice of leadership, the relational aesthetics of leaders, followers and an ‘audience’ is reinforced. Artists create mainly to express their subjective conceptions of beauty, emotion or some other aesthetic ideal. Thus, artists, often excluded from the canon of leadership, perform leadership functions. Although aesthetic producers ultimately contribute value to society, the nature of what they do and how they do it means that their actions cannot be meaningfully understood using the conventional leadership paradigm. For example, Smith and Wright (2000) distinguish between those who create and those who lead through their ability to transform the world by their deeds rather than by their ideas or emotional expressions. However, true aesthetic leadership must involve an element of both through the development of creative philosophies which result in insight, change or understanding.

Applications of Aesthetic Leadership

The Creative Industries

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The creative industries emerged over the last thirty years as an important and dynamic industrial sector. Creativity is not just applicable to the arts and the artistic product but should also be viewed in a wider sense where it embraces entrepreneurship and innovative leadership within the context of the wider social environment. It contributes to the unconventional behavior of a leader and has most impact in today’s knowledge based societies. The leader of a creative industries organization encourages the use of creativity in new product development processes and creates an environment where selfconstructed, rather than textbook replication forms of planning and strategy are often the norm. In today’s environment of heightened globalization forces and sometimes chaotic market conditions, strong leadership is needed in order to create new customer bases and establish creative solutions to perceptual and physical barriers. Given these circumstances, creative leadership is deemed more appropriate than conventional linear/rational approaches. In this respect, creative managerial judgment can be just as relevant to decision-making as conventional managerial skills. Intuitive decisionmaking is an appropriate response to the contemporary business environment, where the generation of a range of options can be constructed through appropriate visionary leadership and entrepreneurial behavior. Contemporary literature locates the crafts industry as part of the greater cultural industry, comprising designer trades, book publishing, the music industry, television and radio broadcasting, independent film and video, the art trade and cinema. General definitions of the creative industries include advertising, architecture, the art and

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antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer services, television and radio. These industries can be seen to embrace heritage and tradition, contemporary entertainment and art and innovation or experiment. In the United Kingdom, recent figures suggest that 1.4 million people are employed in the creative industries and that the economic contribution is more than 90 billion pounds sterling per year. In the US, those working in the creative sector comprise more than thirty percent of the overall workforce, with a collective income of around $1.7 trillion per year (Florida, 2002). This growing creative base and its associated alternative value system and aesthetic mean that we ignore the creative industries and its innovative leadership at our peril. There are inherent difficulties in considering those entities, which comprise the creative industries as being part of the wider economy where enterprises follow the rules of market orientation and customer wishes. Through a synthesis of literature on sociology, art, marketing, creativity, entrepreneurship, leadership and change management, Fillis and Rentschler (2006) add to this understanding by evaluating how the development of a set of entrepreneurial competencies can help shape leadership in the small and medium sized enterprise. The arts and crafts firm is typically a small enterprise where the owner/manager leads through creative, entrepreneurial thinking and practice. There is also a growing history of research into the overlap between leadership and entrepreneurship; for example, Cogliser and Brigham (2004) consider how leadership studies can inform the much

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younger discipline of entrepreneurship. They identify a number of conceptual overlaps, including the constructs of vision, creative leadership and planning. Organizational climate, leadership style, organizational culture, resources and skills and the structure and systems of the organization are the most influential factors in enhancing creativity in the work environment. A leadership style modeled on democracy and participation facilitates creativity and a leader’s aesthetic vision is an important factor in managing creative individuals.

Civic, Economic and Urban Development: WaterFire Providence

Barnaby Evans is a contemporary artist and sculptor who created WaterFire Providence – a fire sculpture, mystical musical experience, and art installation – which has been a powerful force in revitalizing Providence, Rhode Island (http://www.waterfire.org/). WaterFire Providence celebrates the reclaiming of Providence’s three rivers, completed in 1995 as part of a ten-year project. Staged every two or three weeks, usually on Saturday nights, WaterFire draws thousands of people – families, teenagers, tourists, convention-goers, and local residents – to downtown Providence to experience this public event, steeped in the ancient elements of water, fire, and music. Many local restaurants set up street side tables and a variety of food and drink is available. But mostly WaterFire is about viewing dozens of ritual fires that are stoked until midnight by volunteers who cruise the river dressed druid-like in black

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on a black boat to the sounds of an evocative and ethereal soundtrack of sacred and secular music selected by Evans. WaterFire Providence has been positively reviewed in such publications as ARTnews, and has been hailed as the key to bringing people back to the once moribund Providence downtown, and spurring economic and cultural development. One reviewer concluded: “this cross-bred urban renaissance may be one of the most inventive uses of public performance spectacle to appear in an American city in recent times” (Klein, 2001). WaterFire Providence succeeded in reclaiming the civic pride of Rhode Islanders, and re-establishing a public place for contemplation, promenading and socializing. Its innovative combination of basic elements such as fire, water and sound in a civic setting, compelling spectators “to contemplate a range of aesthetic and spiritual associations beyond mere material context” (Branham, 1999) offers leadership lessons. Providence created an art enterprise zone in 1994 to attract artists to live and work in the downtown area. Like many U.S. cities in the 1970s and 1980s, Providence was severely affected by suburban flight by both residents and businesses, highway construction, and economic downturns. Along with many once proud industrial capitals in the Northeast, Providence had fallen on hard times, shedding manufacturing jobs, factories, and skilled workers, and its decaying downtown had lost much of its’ allure and attraction. A major effort was initiated to recover and reclaim the three major rivers that run through Providence, which were critical to its importance as a colonial port and major industrial center through the early 20th century. The river restoration project was

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completed in 1995, and WaterFire Providence has been instrumental in bringing people from around the state downtown in a unique public spectacle. Local businesses joined the event by hosting outdoor dining and entertainment, increasing opening hours, and advertising WaterFire night specials. Regional and national conventions held at the Providence convention center also sponsor WaterFire. Several other U.S. cities, including San Antonio, Texas have started similar events, advised by Evans. WaterFire Providence has been hailed by the mayor of Providence as a key ingredient in the revitalization of this well-preserved New England city. It has sparked visits to Providence even on nights when it is not performed, and has become an icon of Providence’s so-called renaissance (Evans, 2004). WaterFire has an uncanny effect on people – who wonder aloud what it is, or what it means – and it remains a powerful work of civic art that is profoundly changing Providence. Although he holds no official title, and he had to create his own organization of volunteers and a small paid staff, Evans’s vision provided an artistic and civic vision that spanned artistic, cultural and economic realms, and cut across aesthetic genres of sculpture, installation and urban art. His success illuminates the potential power of aesthetic leadership, working in conjunction with traditional forms of power, such as civic leaders, businesses, and local government officials.

Political Music-making: Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

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The West-Eastern Divan orchestra was founded by musician Daniel Barenboim and theorist Edward Said as an experiment in Arab-Israeli relations. Barenboim, a piano prodigy and orchestral conductor with roots in Argentina and Israel, and Said – who died in 2003 – a Palestinian and Professor at Columbia University in New York, well known for his work on Orientalism, recruited young musicians from Israel and the Arab world to play together. Barenboim “sees the orchestra as a model for dialog in the Middle East – an example of how to break the wall of hatred between peoples” (Clark, 2009, p. 3). Via aesthetic experience, making music together, and interacting, this the Divan orchestra goals include civic and political engagement between long standing antagonists. Named after a collection of poems by the German writer Goethe that imagines a Western awareness of Eastern culture, the West-Eastern Divan orchestra has enjoyed tremendous success and critical acclaim. The orchestra meets for a month every summer near Seville, Spain, and tours around the world, members sharing accommodation, food, and travel arrangements. The orchestra is often called upon to make statements about events in the Middle East, and Barenboim has emerged as a kind of ambassador for the troubled region. Their appearance in war-torn regions, contested territories, and highly symbolic religious centers has fueled their fame. One member of the orchestra Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar, asserts that “the miracle of the world that Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said created–the world of the Divan–lay in the opportunity for individuals to meet outside of their environments to find a new equilibrium, perhaps even a new identity that went beyond their national identities” (in Cheah 2009, p. 46). Barenboim

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and Said’s vision of aesthetic encounter producing political change is of course, not complete, but it remains a shining example of the possibilities and potential of aesthetic leadership in the political realm.

Summary and Conclusion

Aesthetic leadership encompasses leaders, followers and culture, and can be considered an important emerging perspective within leadership studies. Although there are important differences between aesthetic leadership models, all emphasize the aesthetic, sensory dimension, and all draw upon artistic or intuitive processes of leadership. Further, the role of aesthetic insight, as distinct from rational thought provide unites these perspectives. These disparate examples serve to illuminate how aesthetics operates as a form of civic and political leadership. Aesthetic leadership may be seen as only one aspect of a broader turn toward aesthetics and art within leadership, management, and organization studies. Investigation of aesthetics within organization studies, creative industries and in wider society can help to develop an alternative approach to understanding leadership in the organization where emotional expression, ethics and values are promoted over rational thinking. Emotional expression is specifically heightened during aesthetic experience and, more specifically, through the consumption of creative industries outputs. It is important to realize that, as researchers, we need to understand the

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contribution of disciplines such as the humanities to understanding the aesthetic dimension of leadership. Artists such as Maya Lin, Jacques-Louis David, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Barnaby Evans, and Daniel Barenboim provide vivid examples that leadership is not confined to organizations or governments, and remind us that aesthetic leadership transcends traditional categories of leadership studies. Aesthetic leaders like these often succeed not from following rules and rational procedures, but by sharing an aesthetic vision. In this way, they function as exemplars of leadership in their own right, and also offer lessons for leaders in business, government and other organizations. A number of areas have been identified in which aesthetics can make a contribution to improved understanding of the aesthetic dimension of leadership. It can be seen, then, that positioning research and practice within an aesthetic framework can facilitate alternative ways of ways of knowing which both compliments and challenges the traditional paradigm of leadership studies. In order to further develop our understanding of aesthetic leadership, additional research is needed which builds on the work of aesthetic leaders in the creative industries, the cultural sector, and the wider civic arena in which aesthetic leadership makes key contributions.

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References and Further Readings

Austin, R. & Devin, L. (2003). Artful making: What managers need to know about how artists work. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Barenboim, D. and Said, E. W. (2004). Parallels and paradoxes: Explorations in music and society. London: Bloomsbury. Barnard, C.I. (1938). The functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Baumgarten, A.G. (1750, reprinted in 1936). Aesthetica. Laterza: Bari. Björkman, I. (2002). Aura: Aesthetic business creativity. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 5, 69-78. Branham, J. R. (1999). Barnaby Evans. Rhode Island School of Design Exhibition Notes, 7, 1-4. Brewis, J. & Linstead, S. (2000). Sex, work and sex-work: Eroticising organization, London: Routledge. Carr, A. & Hancock, P. (Eds.). (2003). Art and aesthetics at work. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Cheah, E. (2009). An orchestra beyond borders. London: Verso.

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Clark, A. (2009). Peace and harmony: Daniel Barenboim on hip-hop, conducting, a Jewish joke – and how an orchestra could be a model in the Middle East. The Financial Times, August 15-16, Life and Arts 3 Cogliser, C.C., &. Brigham, K. H. (2004). The intersection of leadership and entrepreneurship: mutual lessons to be learned. The Leadership Quarterly, 15, 771-799. Couto, R. (2001). The third sector and civil society: The case of the “YES” campaign in Northern Ireland. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 12, 221-238. Crossan, M., Lane, H., & White, R. (1999). An organizational learning framework from intuition to institution. Academy of Management Review, 24, 522-537. Darso, L. & Dawids, M. (2002). It’s time for the artists to help the poor business people. Learning Lab Denmark Quarterly, October, 6-7. Duke, D. L. (1986). The aesthetics of leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 22, 7-27. Edman, I. (1928). Arts and the man: A short introduction to aesthetics. New York: W.W. Norton. Evans, B. (2004). Providence: The renaissance city. Boston: Northeastern University Press. Fillis, I., & Rentschler, R. (2006). Creative marketing. An extended metaphor for marketing in a new age. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Florida, R. (2002). The rise of the creative class, and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Basic Books. Gagliardi, P. (1996). Exploring the aesthetic side of organizational life. In S.R. Clegg, C. Hardy & W.R. Nord (Eds.), Handbook of organization studies (pp. 565-580). London: Sage. Guillet de Monthoux, P. (2004). The art firm: aesthetic management and metaphysical marketing from Wagner to Wilson. Stanford: Stanford Business Books. Guillet de Monthoux, P., & Sjöstrand, S-E. (2003). Corporate art or artful corporation? In B. Czarniawska & G. Sevón (Eds.), Northern lights. Scandinavian contributions to organization theory (pp. 217-245). Copenhagen: Liber. Guillet de Monthoux, P., & Strati, A. (Eds.) (2002). Aesthetics in organization, Special issue. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 5. Hatch, M. J., Kostera, M., & Kozminski, A. K. (2004). The three faces of leadership: manager, artist, priest. Oxford: Blackwell. Hansen, H., Ropo, A., & Sauer, E. (2007). Aesthetic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly 18, 544–560 Höpfl, H. J., & Linstead, S. (Eds.), (2000). The aesthetics of organization. London: Sage. Klein, L. (2001). Review: Bonfires of urbanity: the public art of Barnaby Evans. PAJ: A Journal of Performances and Art, 23, 68-70.

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Jonathan E. Schroeder is Professor of Marketing at the University of Exeter Business School. He is also a Visiting Professor in Marketing Semiotics at Bocconi University in Milan. His Ph.D. is in Social Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. Schroeder’s research focuses on four intersecting areas: aesthetic leadership, brand culture, business ethics, and visual consumption. He is the author of Visual Consumption (Routledge, 2002) and co-editor of Brand Culture (Routledge, 2006). He is co-editor in chief of the interdisciplinary journal Consumption Markets & Culture, and serves on the editorial boards of Advertising and Society Review, Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty, European Journal of Marketing, Innovative Marketing, International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, Journal of Macromarketing,

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and Marketing Theory. He is a founding member of the International Network of Visual Studies in Organization (inVisio).

Ian Fillis is Senior Lecturer of Marketing at Stirling University. He received his BSc in Civil Engineering at the University of Glasgow, his MA in Marketing from the University of Ulster and a Ph.D. on the Internationalisation Process of the Smaller Firm from the University of Stirling. He is editor of the Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. As well as pursuing research interests in marketing and entrepreneurship, his research focuses on cross-disciplinary problems beyond conventional management studies. He has attracted research funding from a range of external bodies including the ESRC, the Arts Council of England, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Arts Council and Crafts Northern Ireland.

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