Mitchell Centre Seminar Series. Andrew Parker University of Durham. It’s Not Me, It’s You: The Effect of Alter’s Brokerage Orientations on an Individual’s Leader Identity
| Dates: | 25 March 2026 |
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| Times: | 16:00 - 17:30 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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Understanding how individuals come to see themselves as leaders is critical for organizations. While prior research has primarily focused on individual characteristics and experiences as drivers of leader identity construction, the relational antecedents through which leader identity is shaped remain underexplored. This study examines the effects on individuals of the behavioral brokerage orientations of others within their network (i.e., ‘alters’). Specifically, we examine how alters’ tendencies to connect others (tertius iungens) or keep others apart (tertius gaudens), affect the focal individual’s leader identity. Drawing on leader identity theory and social capital theory, we propose that brokerage behaviors by alters within buy-in networks shape how individuals internalize leadership as part of their self-concept. We theorize that tertius iungens-brokering by alters has a positive effect on leader identity by creating opportunities for support and validation that attenuates as the effect gets stronger, whereas moderate tertius gaudens-brokering by alters has a positive effect that becomes negative as the brokering behavior gets stronger, as excessive separation leads to network fragmentation. Using Fixed Effects-regression on data from 138 employees in a consultancy firm, we find support for the linear effect of tertius iungens-brokering and a negative curvilinear effect of tertius gaudens-brokering. The findings advance our understanding of leader identity construction and deconstruction by highlighting the role of others in an individual’s network and helps leadership research ‘zooming out’ to reflect the complex, interpersonal nature of leader identity with greater methodological plurality.
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