Beyond the leader-centric approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to go beyond the leader-centric approach to highlight the shared leadership phenomena happening in organizations where there is no head leader. Seeing interactions between the orchestra members through the lens of aesthetics is a useful way of understanding leadership phenomena. Design/methodology/approach – The different approaches used are interviews, participant observation, analysis of video, photo materials and journalist review. Findings – The managerial evidence says that without a head leader nothing is possible in organizations with a high level of complexity is not proved in a conductorless orchestra. The orchestra without a conductor shows that leadership is an aesthetic phenomenon. The conductorless orchestra is enhancing the sensitivity of organizational practices in a situation where beauty is a common goal to achieve. Studying leadership through the aesthetic lens is very relevant to understand this phenomenon, and shows that leadership is a co-construction between leaders and followers (and therefore negotiated). Research limitations/implications – It has to be compared to a non “amateur” orchestra where power struggles are maybe more visible. Originality/value – No study has been done on aesthetics and the no-conductor orchestra.