All Outputs (20)

Three perspectives on leadership in higher education: Traditionalist, reformist, pragmatist (2024)
Journal Article
Macfarlane, B., Bolden, R., & Watermeyer, R. (in press). Three perspectives on leadership in higher education: Traditionalist, reformist, pragmatist. Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01174-x

There is a fragmented and complex literature about higher education leadership representing a diversity of ideological perspectives about its nature and purposes. Internationally, the literature has been strongly shaped by the importation of concepts... Read More about Three perspectives on leadership in higher education: Traditionalist, reformist, pragmatist.

Paradoxes of multi-level leadership: Insights from an integrated care system (2023)
Journal Article
Bolden, R., Kars, S., Jarvis, C., & Sheffield, R. (2023). Paradoxes of multi-level leadership: Insights from an integrated care system. Journal of Change Management, 23(4), 337-357. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2023.2234388

In this paper, we draw on systems leadership, complexity and paradox theory to elucidate the tensions that organisational actors experience when practising multi-level leadership. We explore these issues through a study of the perceptions and experie... Read More about Paradoxes of multi-level leadership: Insights from an integrated care system.

Why is collective leadership so elusive? (2022)
Journal Article
Edwards, G., & Bolden, R. (2023). Why is collective leadership so elusive?. Leadership, 19(2), 167–182. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150221128357

This ‘Leading Questions’ thought piece explores the elusive nature of collective leadership. We use our previous experiences to explore issues that tend to go unnoticed and unreported within the academic analysis of collective forms of leadership, in... Read More about Why is collective leadership so elusive?.

Evaluating shifting perceptions and configurations of social capital in leadership development (2022)
Journal Article
Gilani, P., Bolden, R., & Pye, A. (2023). Evaluating shifting perceptions and configurations of social capital in leadership development. Leadership, 19(1), 63-84. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150221133888

Whilst Day's (2000) description of leadership development as an investment in social capital has been widely cited, there has been little subsequent empirical or theoretical work to explore and articulate the nature and purpose of this ‘social capita... Read More about Evaluating shifting perceptions and configurations of social capital in leadership development.

Learning from collective lived experience: A case study of an experts by experience group (2022)
Journal Article
Pawson, C., Bolden, R., Isaac, B., Joseph, F., Hannah, M., & Sandai, S. (2022). Learning from collective lived experience: A case study of an experts by experience group. Housing, Care and Support, 25(3/4), 223-235. https://doi.org/10.1108/HCS-12-2021-0048

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study tracking the development and engagement of a group of experts by experience (The Independent Futures (IF) Group) who provided a lived experience voice to the Bristol Golden Key (GK) partne... Read More about Learning from collective lived experience: A case study of an experts by experience group.

An emergent process for activating system change: Insights from Golden Key Bristol (2022)
Journal Article
Fouracre, B., Fisher, J., Bolden, R., Coombs, B., Isaac, B., & Pawson, C. (2022). An emergent process for activating system change: Insights from Golden Key Bristol. Housing, Care and Support, 25(3/4), 250-261. https://doi.org/10.1108/HCS-12-2021-0039

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present insights into the way in which system change can be activated around the provision of services and support for people experiencing multiple disadvantages in an urban setting. Design/methodology/approac... Read More about An emergent process for activating system change: Insights from Golden Key Bristol.

Leadership Development Evaluation (LDE): Reflections on a collaboratory approach (2022)
Journal Article
Smith, S. M., Edwards, G., Palmer, A., Bolden, R., & Watton, E. (2023). Leadership Development Evaluation (LDE): Reflections on a collaboratory approach. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 31(6), 2595-2609. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-11-2021-3056

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the experience of attempting a “collaboratory” approach in sharing knowledge about leadership development evaluation (LDE). A collaboratory intertwines “collaboration” and “laboratory” to create inno... Read More about Leadership Development Evaluation (LDE): Reflections on a collaboratory approach.

Book Review - Parker, M. (Ed.), Life After COVID-19: The Other Side of Crisis (2021)
Journal Article
Bolden, R. (2021). Book Review - Parker, M. (Ed.), Life After COVID-19: The Other Side of Crisis. Colombo Business Journal, 12(2), 150-154. https://doi.org/10.4038/cbj.v12i2.86

Since the start of the pandemic Bristol University Press have commissioned a series of books on the topic of COVID-19 and its impact on business and society around the world . The first of these – Life After COVID-19: The other side of crisis – is an... Read More about Book Review - Parker, M. (Ed.), Life After COVID-19: The Other Side of Crisis.

How do you develop systems leadership in public health? Insights from a scoping study (2021)
Journal Article
Evans, D., Bolden, R., Jarvis, C., Mann, R., Patterson, M., & Thompson, E. (2021). How do you develop systems leadership in public health? Insights from a scoping study. Public Health, 196, 24-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.04.033

Objectives: Systems leadership is widely acknowledged to be needed to address the many ‘wicked issues’ challenging public health systems. However, there is a lack of evidence on how to develop public health professionals into effective systems leader... Read More about How do you develop systems leadership in public health? Insights from a scoping study.

Systems leadership in practice: Thematic insights from three public health case studies (2020)
Journal Article
Bigland, C., Evans, D., Bolden, R., & Rae, M. (2020). Systems leadership in practice: Thematic insights from three public health case studies. BMC Public Health, 20, Article 1735. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09641-1

Background: ‘Systems leadership’ has emerged as a key concept in global public health alongside such related concepts as ‘systems thinking’ and ‘whole systems approaches.’ It is an approach that is well suited to issues that require collective actio... Read More about Systems leadership in practice: Thematic insights from three public health case studies.

Leading to achieve social change: An interview with Ruth Hunt, former Chief Executive Officer of Stonewall (2020)
Journal Article
Bolden, R., Williams, R., & O’Regan, N. (2021). Leading to achieve social change: An interview with Ruth Hunt, former Chief Executive Officer of Stonewall. Journal of Management Inquiry, 30(1), 91-97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492620935192

In this interview Ruth Hunt, former CEO of the lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality charity Stonewall and now crossbench peer at the House of Lords, discusses her approach to leadership for social change. She considers the changing context of LGBT rig... Read More about Leading to achieve social change: An interview with Ruth Hunt, former Chief Executive Officer of Stonewall.

Mobilizing Change in Public Services: Insights from a Systems Leadership Development Intervention (2019)
Journal Article
Bolden, R., Gulati, A., & Edwards, G. (2020). Mobilizing Change in Public Services: Insights from a Systems Leadership Development Intervention. International Journal of Public Administration, 43(1), 26-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2019.1604748

© 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This paper explores the mobilization of systems change through analysis of a place-based ‘systems leadership’ development intervention aimed to develop the capacity of cross-sector partnerships to tackle... Read More about Mobilizing Change in Public Services: Insights from a Systems Leadership Development Intervention.

Leadership and Creativity in Public Services: An Interview With Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of the National Audit Office (2017)
Journal Article
Bolden, R., & O'Regan, N. (2018). Leadership and Creativity in Public Services: An Interview With Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of the National Audit Office. Journal of Management Inquiry, 27(1), 45-51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492616688088

© The Author(s) 2017. This interview with Lord Michael Bichard, one of the most distinguished public sector leaders in the United Kingdom, explores his ideas around the relationship between leadership, creativity, and innovation. A champion of place-... Read More about Leadership and Creativity in Public Services: An Interview With Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of the National Audit Office.

Digital Disruption and the Future of Leadership: An Interview With Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman of Centrica and MasterCard (2016)
Journal Article
O’Regan, N., Bolden, R., & O'Regan, N. (2016). Digital Disruption and the Future of Leadership: An Interview With Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman of Centrica and MasterCard. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25(4), 438-446. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492616638173

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Unprecedented changes in the nature and prevalence of digital technology have significant implications for leadership theory, practice, and development that, as yet, remain largely unexplored in mainstream academic liter... Read More about Digital Disruption and the Future of Leadership: An Interview With Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman of Centrica and MasterCard.

Making the ‘third stream’, mainstream: Facilitating effective higher education-employer engagement in workforce development (2016)
Journal Article
Petrov, G., Southall, J., & Bolden, R. (2016). Making the ‘third stream’, mainstream: Facilitating effective higher education-employer engagement in workforce development. Higher Education Review -London-,

In the past decade successive UK governments have placed a strong emphasis on, and renewed interest in, the role of higher education in skills development. In the light of recent skills policy developments in England and drawing upon the findings of... Read More about Making the ‘third stream’, mainstream: Facilitating effective higher education-employer engagement in workforce development.

Leading in turbulent times: Learning to live with paradox (2016)
Journal Article
Bolden, R. (2016). Leading in turbulent times: Learning to live with paradox

In the late 1990s the U.S. Army War College developed the acronym VUCA to refer to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous nature of political relations in the post- cold war era. It did not take long, however, for people to realize that thes... Read More about Leading in turbulent times: Learning to live with paradox.

Hybrid configurations of leadership in higher education employer engagement (2014)
Journal Article
Bolden, R., & Petrov, G. (2014). Hybrid configurations of leadership in higher education employer engagement. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 36(4), 408-417. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2014.916465

Recent literature has emphasised the distributed nature of leadership in higher education (HE) and the multitude of actors and factors that contribute towards organisational outcomes. Gronn suggests, however, that rather than using such evidence to p... Read More about Hybrid configurations of leadership in higher education employer engagement.

Leadership and branding in business schools: A Bourdieusian analysis (2014)
Journal Article
Naidoo, R., Gosling, J., Bolden, R., O'Brien, A., & Hawkins, B. (2014). Leadership and branding in business schools: A Bourdieusian analysis. Higher Education Research and Development, 33(1), 144-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.864612

This paper explores the growth of corporate branding in higher education (HE) and its use by academic and professional managers as a mechanism for not only enhancing institutional reputation but also for facilitating internal culture change. It uses... Read More about Leadership and branding in business schools: A Bourdieusian analysis.

Citizens of the academic community? A societal perspective on leadership in UK higher education (2013)
Journal Article
Bolden, R., Gosling, J., & O'Brien, A. (2014). Citizens of the academic community? A societal perspective on leadership in UK higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 39(5), 754-770. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2012.754855

This paper presents a societal perspective on academic leadership by exploring the preoccupations of academics as citizens rather than as employees, managers or individuals. It uses a listening post methodology to ask 'what is it like to be a citizen... Read More about Citizens of the academic community? A societal perspective on leadership in UK higher education.

Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research (2011)
Journal Article
Bolden, R. (2011). Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13(3), 251-269. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00306.x

The aim of this paper is to review conceptual and empirical literature on the concept of distributed leadership (DL) in order to identify its origins, key arguments, and areas for further work. Consideration is given to the similarities and differenc... Read More about Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research.