From perception to flesh: A phenomenological account of the felt experience of leadership

Abstract

Although growing numbers of scholars are studying the role embodiment plays in leadership, few attend to the most fundamental level at which bodies are involved: that of the felt experience of being within a leadership dynamic. How do we know, at a bodily level when we are being led, or when we are leading? Does the quality of that bodily based experience have an impact on the extent to which we are willing to engage in leadership processes, either as followers or as leaders? This paper draws on Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology to respond to questions such as these and to elaborate the perceptual processes central to the felt experience of being within a leadership relation. This exploration culminates in a description of Merleau-Ponty’s notion of ‘flesh’, the ‘stuff’ of materiality, as well as the medium through which materiality is experienced. This paper argues that Merleau-Ponty’s ideas provide a holistic approach to understanding perception as a full-bodied activity with important implications for the creation and maintenance of leadership relations. In doing so, his thinking offers a starting point for rendering the invisible intersubjective relations at the heart of leadership more visible, thus enabling their material dimensions to become more evident.