Dehumanising leadership: AI and the construction of post-human leadership

What is it about?

This paper explores what happens when artificial intelligence (AI) is perceived as a leader in organisations. It shows that leadership is not a fixed human quality but something we attribute based on expectations, outcomes, and social cues. By examining how AI systems can be accepted as leaders, the paper invites us to rethink what leadership really is. Post-human leadership is explained and developed as a general theory of leadership that does not presuppose that leadership is a quality of leaders. Instead, it is produced through shared interpretations that turn influence into something that feels real and authoritative. Leadership endures because these interpretations become taken for granted, even when they are no longer tied to human intention or presence. This approach reframes leadership as a social process rather than a personal quality.

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