Leadership Discourse at Work

Employing a discourse analytical approach this book focuses on the under-researched strategy of humour to illustrate how discursive performances of leadership are influenced by gender and workplace culture. Far from being a superfluous strategy that distracts from business, humour performs a myriad of important functions in the workplace context.

STEPHANIE SCHNURR is Assistant Professor at the School of English at the University of Hong Kong. Her main research interest is the sociolinguistic and discursive performance of leadership and gender at work, and in particular the multiple functions and strategic uses of humour in workplace discourse.  

List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgements Transcription Conventions Introduction Transactional Aspects of Leadership Discourse: Humour and Getting Things Done The 'Other' Side of Leadership Discourse: Humour and the Performance of Relational Leadership Activities Doing Leadership in Context: The Impact of Working Groups Leadership, Humour and Workplace Culture Balancing Leader and Gender Identities Conclusion Notes References Index