Leadership as cultural practice

Abstract

This article proposes the study of leadership as cultural practice, adding the cultural dimension to research on leadership as practice. While the advances of practice-based studies are considerable in organizational learning and strategy, research on leadership as practice is scarce. Within the field of leadership as practice, in which no research has integrated the cultural dimension, this article formulates and discusses leadership as cultural practice, because it understands that culture is a fundamental element in not only orienting how organizational practices are constructed, but also in how leaders make and base their decisions, as well as act and interact. The first step of this research is the review of the studies on leadership as practice. The second is to bring these studies closer to those dealing with cultural leadership and culture as practice. The third step is to discuss the implications of the proposal of leadership as cultural practice. The results of the research allow to enlarge and improve the study of leadership, considering it not only as practice, but also as cultural practice. Implications for future research are discussed.