Former athlete, future leader: on- and off-field implicit leadership theories of elite athletes – a phenomenological study on leadership

For many years, leadership has been on the research agenda for scholars, with King et al. (2009) claiming it as the most important topic in social science. Many theories thus emerged, with recent research efforts moving to a follower-centric approach that views leadership as a socially constructed phenomenon (Epitropaki & Martin, 2004, 2005; Fairhurst & Grant, 2010; Grint & Jackson, 2010). The social constructionist view implies that followers and leaders have subjective images about who they see as an influential leader, making leadership a concept in the eye of the beholder (Billsberry & Meisel, 2009). As a result, research efforts focussed on understanding the content and structure of Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs), which are mental models determining which qualities followers seek in leaders (Eden & Leviatan, 1975; Offermann et al., 1994; Schyns & Meindl, 2005; Schyns & Schilling, 2011). [Continues ...]