Dr Ilka Gleibs

This course is available on the MSc in Behavioural Science, MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology, MSc in Social and Public Communication and MSc in Societal and Environmental Psychology. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: All PBS 0.5-unit courses in Winter Term are controlled access and capped. Students enrolled on PBS programmes will be given priority.

Each course is available with permission as an outside option to students outside of PBS where regulations permit, providing there is space. All students must submit a short statement (around 100 words) outlining their motivation for enrolling on the course, which will be considered by the course convenor.

Deadline for application: Please apply as soon as possible after the opening of course selection for all courses.

For queries contact: Pbs.msc@lse.ac.uk

This course is available on the MSc in Behavioural Science, MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc in Societal and Environmental Psychology, MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology and MSc in Social and Public Communication. 

Students who come to this course without any background in organizational and social psychology are expected to familiarise themselves with the relevant literature. To this end, we strongly suggest that those students read the following books:

Hogg, MA & Vaughan, G. (eds) (2021). Social Psychology. 8th edition. Harlow: Pearson

Haslam, S. A. (2004). Psychology in organizations : the social identity approach (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.

Leadership is a universal feature of human societies, evident across cultures, institutions, and social structures. From early childhood, we encounter leadership in various forms; parents, teachers, and community figures play influential roles in guiding behaviour and decisions. No society exists without leadership, though the forms and structures it takes can vary widely, and many do not depend on a singular, overarching leader.

In this course, we critically explore leadership as a central topic in social sciences, one that has also spawned a global industry focused on leadership development and training. Yet, many dominant leadership models oversimplify a complex and dynamic process. Common leadership paradigms emphasize a strong, singular leader at the top of a hierarchy, suggesting that the success of a group is contingent upon this leader’s unique qualities. However, such models overlook critical social realities: leadership may be diffuse, hierarchies may be contested, and positions of power can be both illegitimate and exclusionary.

In a world facing complex challenges—such as economic instability, political conflict, and the climate crisis—leadership becomes more intricate, requiring a nuanced understanding of power, influence, and cooperation. This course will examine the psychology of leadership as a social influence process and its potential for navigating crises. We will explore contemporary leadership theories, assessing their relevance for crisis management and problem-solving in today’s interconnected world.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand leadership as a universal yet context-dependent feature of societies.
• Critically evaluate traditional leadership models, especially in relation to hierarchical and power structures.
• Investigate the psychology of leadership as a social influence process, focusing on its role during crises.
• Analyse barriers to effective leadership in times of crisis, considering the complexity of collective responsibility and cooperation.
• Explore contemporary challenges, such as political, economic, and environmental crises, and assess how leadership theories apply in these contexts.
• Develop insights into the necessity of both individual and collective efforts in addressing global challenges.

General reading:

Knights, D., Liu, H., Smolović-Jones, O., & Wilson, S. (Eds.). (2024). The Routledge Critical Companion to Leadership Studies. Taylor & Francis.

Indicative reading:

• Gleibs, I. H. (2024). A social identity approach to crisis leadership. British Journal of Social Psychology, 00, 1–8.
• Grint, K. (2024). Is leadership the solution to the wicked problem of climate change? Leadership, 20(2), 77-95. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715023122359
• Riggio, R. E., & Newstead, T. (2023). Crisis leadership. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10, 201–224.
• Johns, G. (2024). The context deficit in leadership research.  The Leadership Quarterly, 35(1), 101755
• Kerrissey, M., & Edmondson, A. (2020). What good leadership looks like during this pandemic. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles.

Indicative Topics: History of Leadership/ Crisis Leadership; Implicit Leadership Theories; Challenging the 'hero' myth; leaderless leadership; feminist approaches to leadership; relational models of leadership; populism and leadership/ destructive leadership

LSE is currently evaluating the use of edit tracking tools for AI-resilient assessment. This course might use edit tracking tools for assessments.

30 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Essay plan.

Knights, D., Liu, H., Smolović-Jones, O., & Wilson, S. (Eds.). (2024). The Routledge Critical Companion to Leadership Studies. Taylor & Francis.

Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S., & Platow, M. (2020, 2.ed). The new psychology of leadership : identity, influence, and power. Psychology Press.

Riggio, R. E., & Newstead, T. (2023). Crisis leadership. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10, 201–224.

Johns, G. (2024). The context deficit in leadership research. The Leadership Quarterly, 35(1), 101755.

Presentation (20%).

Essay (70%, 2500 words).

Annotated bibliography (10%, 500 words).