Hybrid leadership

With the recent emergence of distributed leadership, a key question is: What happens next? One possibility is that a distributed understanding may replace traditional individualistic leadership approaches. Another is the polarization of the field around re-assertions of individualism and proponents of distribution. A third development may be an accommodation between distributed and individualistic approaches. Another possible outcome is hybridity, the focus of the chapter. Hybrid leadership means mixed leadership patterns. Employing data from a case study, this chapter explains why such patterns arise and how hybrid leadership operates. The chapter also identifies some of the problems and possibilities opened up by a hybrid view of leadership, and the significance of this perspective for the future of the field.