Shed Light on Leadership with Metaphor : How Chinese Leaders Integrate Themselves to Lead Better and even Lead beyond Domains

Leadership has been studied from many angles. But in my study, I study leadership with metaphors, hoping to provide some new insights. With metaphors, I want to seek an answer what can leaders do to integrate themselves to lead better. In this time, leadership is no longer constrained within one domain. With rapid changes and merging among companies and industries, people expect leadership in a broader range of contexts and domains. I also want to find what leaders can do to manage their influence well, to get it across domains. I look into various fields including psychology, culture, leadership and others to gain knowledge. With the help of metaphor, I break the questions into answerable parts and start my research. As for methodology, I adopt systems approach. I conduct eight interviews with leaders from diversified backgrounds regarding age, gender, industry, position and family status. But one thing in common is that they are all highly engaged in multi-cultural or multi-domain interaction. By studying their experience, learning their past and their approach, I come up with eight patterns of influence from the interviews, showing their uniqueness in style and approach to integrate themselves and to convey influence beyond domains. In theoretical study, I further compare the patterns to locate the common parts and reveal the different parts. Then I introduce a concise frame and analyze further. Finally, by combining books, articles and analysis, I provide the advice on what leader can do to expand their influence. Finally, I suggest a few points for leaders to integrate themselves to be better leaders and seek their styles. Then, using their styles or patterns, develop and deliver their influence beyond domains