A dig through academic archives can give us insights into how our understanding of higher education leadership has changed over time. One immediate take-away is the sharp increase in discussions of ‘entrepreneurial leadership’ over the last decade or so. A more careful reading shows that our understanding of entrepreneurial leadership has evolved. Take, for example, this definition by Cunningham and Lischeron from 1991:
Entrepreneurial leadership involves setting clear goals, creating opportunities, empowering people, preserving organisational intimacy, and developing a human resource system.
Fast-forward to 2019, and the focus for Lee et al. is on supporting staff to do things differently:
Entrepreneurial leadership encourages followers to identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities for value creation… and thus aims to motivate employees to contribute to creative activities… entrepreneurial leaders provide creative support, for example, by designing and adjusting achievable goals aimed to rouse follower perseverance and by working with employees to generate different perspectives.
