Why leadership fails without governance: rethinking coordination, accountability and participation in organisations

Purpose This paper examines a persistent problem in organisations: leadership is often understood as relational or practice-based, while the organisational conditions that sustain coordination, accountability and participation remain under-specified. It aims to reconceptualise leadership as governance practice, focusing on how leadership is organised and stabilised through everyday organisational arrangements. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a conceptual approach, drawing on leadership-as-practice, governance and organisation studies literature. It develops an integrative framework that connects relational leadership processes with governance arrangements, focusing on coordination, accountability translation and participation as key organising dimensions. Findings The paper shows that leadership is not simply enacted through interaction but is constituted through governance practices that organise coordination, structure accountability and shape participation. It demonstrates how leadership becomes stabilised and extended across time and space through these arrangements rather than remaining confined to local interaction. Research limitations/implications The paper is conceptual and does not include empirical analysis. It highlights the need for future research examining how governance arrangements shape leadership processes across organisational contexts and how these arrangements influence power, participation and accountability in practice. Practical implications The paper suggests that leaders should focus less on influencing individuals and more on designing governance arrangements that enable coordination, clarify accountability and support meaningful participation. It highlights how weak governance structures can undermine leadership effectiveness even when relational processes are strong. Social implications By showing how participation and accountability are structured through governance, the paper highlights how leadership practices shape inclusion, voice and the experience of meaningful work. It points to the uneven distribution of participation and recognition within organisations. Originality/value The paper offers a novel integration of leadership and governance by conceptualising leadership as governance practice. It moves beyond treating governance as context and instead positions it as the medium through which leadership is constituted, providing a new way of understanding how collective action is organised.