Leadership discourse analysis: an exploration of a neo-transformational leader

Purpose This interdisciplinary study creates a structured link to define neo-transformational leadership via an unconventional method in trade science, called discourse analysis. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on qualitative discourse analysis of longitudinal public leadership communication, the study identifies four core discursive mechanisms through which meaning, legitimacy, and collective responsibility are produced, stabilized, and contested over 15 years. Findings We define neo-transformational leadership as the capacity to enact leadership influence through discursive processes of sensegiving, moral legitimation, boundary spanning, and identity narration, through which shared meaning is constructed, collective responsibility is aligned, and legitimacy is sustained over time. Research limitations/implications At its core, neo-transformational leadership shifts leadership influence from personal qualities to the discursive processes through which meaning, legitimacy, and collective orientation are produced. Originality/value By foregrounding discourse as a constitutive governance mechanism, this paper contributes to leadership theory by empirically elaborating a mechanism-explicit, process-based framework capable of integrating fragmented leadership literature and by demonstrating how discourse-analytic methods can support cumulative, theory-building research on leadership influence.