Abstract
Purpose: The conventional leadership literature conceptualises influence as an active relational process in direct interaction with followers. However, organisational routines, performance standards, and decision-making processes often survive the tenure or physical presence of leaders in an organisation. In these scenarios, ghost leadership emerges as an organisational practice that influences organisational behaviour in the absence of active leadership interventions. The paper proposes the concept of ghost leadership to conceptualise the phenomenon of leadership influence that becomes embedded in organisational routines in the absence of active leadership interventions. The paper conceptualises the construct of ghost leadership in terms of the impact of organisational routines on organisational coordination.
Design/methodology/approach: The research paper adopts an interpretivist research philosophy to conceptualise the research problem using an inductive research approach that explores the phenomenon of ghost leadership in terms of leadership practices that influence organisational routines. The research paper proposes an inductive research approach to explore ghost leadership in terms of leadership practices that influence organisational routines in the absence of active leadership interventions. The research paper suggests conducting in-depth interviews to explore ghost leadership in terms of employees' perceptions of decision-making processes that become embedded in organisational routines (Bryman, 2016).
Findings: The research paper conceptualises ghost leadership in terms of organisational routines that influence organisational coordination.
Originality/value: The research paper proposes the construct of ghost leadership that influences organisational routines in the absence of active leadership interventions. The research paper contributes to the development of leadership theory that conceptualises leadership influence in terms of organisational routines that become embedded in organisational practices in the absence of active leadership interventions. The research paper proposes an inductive research approach that explores ghost leadership in terms of organisational routines that influence organisational coordination in the absence of active leadership interventions (Bolden, 2011; Crevani, Lindgren, & Packendorff, 2020).