Outsider Leadership

Chris O'Riordan is a Lecturer in Accounting and Head of the Centre for Management Research in Healthcare & Healthcare Economics at Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland.

Felicity Kelliher is a Senior Lecturer in Management and Co-Founder of RIKON Research Group, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland.

Patrick C. Flood is Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Co-Director of the Leadership and Talent Institute at Dublin City University, Ireland.

Malcolm Higgs is Professor of Organisation Behaviour and Human Resource Management at Hull University Business School, UK.

Encompassing interviews with managing directors and CEOs, this book explores the role of business outsiders as leaders. Viewing the term 'outsider' in a broad sense, the book considers leader background, perspective, gender, training and family membership and examines the implications, challenges and benefits brought by outsider leaders to their respective business environments. The authors explore questions and themes such as how outsider leaders can enrich an organisation, the importance of relationships and adopting a 'hybrid' approach, illuminated by interviewee perspectives. Introducing discussion and analysis through these narratives, Outsider Leadership distils commonalities to frame understanding of their experiences.

Introduction.- The Outsider Concept and Outsider Leader: A Literature Review.- From Politics to Business: How Wide is the Leadership Gap?.- Leading Within a Male Dominated Sector: The Female Outsider Leader Landscape.- Serial Outsider Leadership: Coming in From the Cold?.- Outside In and Out and In as a Serial Entrepreneur.- Outsider Leader in an Outside Market: The Challenges of Market Entry.- Outsider After the Fact: Leading in a Founder-Present Business.- Outsider by Birth: Leading in a Family Firm.- Conclusion.