Abstract

The paper begins with a review of the literature in the field of leadership paradigms. Residual theories are outlined to demonstrate their common central notion of meaningfulness and related themes concerning culture, symbols and creative social interaction. These theories are identified as being within a school of Symbolic Interactionism which is developed as a fifth paradigm of leadership. The single most important characteristic of the theories that belong to this school is that they articulate the human nature of leadership as the making and management of meaning. Identifying this school enables greater exposure of relevant theories and benefits management education and practice. The study then validates Symbolic Interactionism as a management tool that is useful to a broad group of people including academics, practitioners, researchers and policy makers in the management field.