The Leadership Roles of the “Man of Knowledge”: Navigating Polaritites and Polarisations in Polish Academia

Abstract

This paper has three objectives. First, it seeks to reestablish Florian Znaniecki as the founding father of the sociology of leadership by emphasising his enduring relevance in this field. Second, it aims to revive Znaniecki’s theory of social persons and highlight his innovative contributions to the broader theory of social roles. Last but not least, it endeavours to apply this theory to the unique challenges faced by academic leaders in Poland. To articulate and operationalise the concealed, dynamic, and creative logic inherent in Znaniecki’s theory, this paper draws on Barry Johnson’s polarity-thinking paradigm with its signature methodological tool, the so-called polarity map. Through an in-depth analysis of 36 interviews with academic leaders in Poland, the present study reveals the individualised approaches and strategies these leaders employ in navigating the polarities in Polish academia. Znaniecki’s theory allows four principal polarities in the experiences of Polish academic leaders to be identified: (a) the fundamental intra-person strain between social roles and the Self, which splits into two sub-tensions, that is, (b) the intra-Self strain between the reflected and reconstructed Self, and (c) the intra-role strain between social function and social position, which in turn entails also (d) the moral strain between moral obligations and moral rights. The management of these strains can result in either detrimental polarisations, leading to the deconstruction of the social person, social role, and Self, or the nurturing of creative polarities, fostering the development of a more creative and adaptive social person, social role, and Self.