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Leadership, Management and the Welsh Language
Author(s) -
Schedlitzki Doris,
Edwards Gareth,
While Gethin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european management review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1740-4762
pISSN - 1740-4754
DOI - 10.1111/emre.12087
Subject(s) - welsh , sociology , linguistics , perspective (graphical) , meaning (existential) , psychology , computer science , philosophy , artificial intelligence , psychotherapist
Adopting a multilingual perspective, this empirical paper explores the varied use and meanings of referents of leadership and management among 24 Welsh senior managers. We argue the importance of recognizing the linguistic imperialism of the English language – and its dominant leadership discourse of the heroic individual leader – over locally signified referents of leadership and management in other languages and discourses. At present, the lexical item leadership lacks evaluation of its relevance and meaning within other languages and multilingual contexts. We add to this gap through a discussion of research that analyses 24 Welsh senior managers’ reflections on referents of leadership and management and their varied meanings in their two official workplace languages, namely, Welsh and English. Based on the findings, we explore linguistic power dynamics represented in their reflections on this language diverse work setting and conclude with implications for the practice of leadership and management.