Abstract
This paper will outline the data which emerged from interviews regarding the experience of leadership in the face of an unwanted leader identity. In this regard, the focus of this paper is placed on the interplay between individual experience and organizational forces on leader identity and in doing so, provides an integration of micro-level individual issues (i.e. perceptions of leader identity) with meso-level organizational forces (organizational structures, power, etc.). For many leaders, the organization is the site of much of their leader identity construction. However, when considering the issue of identity in organizations, Alvesson and Willmott (2002), argue that organizations control the identity construction process of employees. And yet, identity is often seen as an individual-level process. Furthermore, in most organizations today, leadership is often viewed as an expectation of career progression. This brings to question how these expectations are perceived and recognized in consideration of the individual-level identity process. This paper seeks to explore the tensions in identity that arise from organizational expectations of leadership when individuals do not identify as leaders and yet must occupy leadership roles. Drawing from 50 one-on-one qualitative interviews with organizational leaders, this study takes an identity work approach to understand how individuals reconcile their leader identity construction process in the shadow of an unwanted leadership role.