The “Bright” and “Shadow” Aspects of In Extremis Leadership

Abstract

This article is based on a qualitative, inductive investigation of in extremis leadership (IEL) as manifest by Australian military advisors during the Vietnam War. Relatively few scholarly studies have investigated the nature of effective leadership in an IE context—even fewer are grounded in the diverse reflections of experienced, on-the-ground military leaders. The research involved the identification of relevant leadership themes across three sources of interview data, analysis of archival documents, and theory development from the integration of the findings and extant literature. The study identified 10 “bright” leadership competencies, the role of trust, and the two key influences of training and mateship. The study also suggests that “shadow” aspects of IEL may have detrimental outcomes on both leaders and the organization. The article concludes with theoretical and practical implications for our understanding of IEL and proposals for future research directions.