Who Leads the Leader? - A Qualitative Study on Managers' Support-Seeking Behaviors Outside of the Organization

Sammanfattning

Modern leadership studies often focus on leading the followers. However, the leader does not always have the answer and thus has to seek support to handle difficulties. Research investigating where CEOs seek support, especially externally, has been scarce. Through a qualitative methodology with 14 interviews with Swedish CEOs, this thesis has studied how and why CEOs seek support outside the organization. The empirical data gave rise to Five External Sources of Support which included different networks, coaches, and individual initiatives to seek support that were used in different questions. For example, the CEOs used coaches in order to get support in managing relationships at the workplace and in taking on new roles or tasks. By analyzing the empirical data through a proactivity framework and identity perspective, it was found that a self-directed professional network and coaches are the most proactive. Also, CEOs' usage of supportive sources can stem from different human needs including friendship and belonging, prestige and mastery, or self-actualization and personal growth. Self-distance and identification can also affect support-seeking, where identifying with the CEO role could potentially lead to a willingness to independently excel and seek less support. The implications are individually and organizationally relevant as CEOs could adjust their support-seeking and proactively prepare for the challenges of today's dynamic corporate world, which would also be desired by organizations as it contributes to organizational success.