Leadership as medium: Treating complexity in group communication research

The present article attempts to adapt the current emphasis on social relationship interpersonal communication research to the phenomenon of group leadership. A synthesis of "what we know and don’t know " about group leadership from past research leads to the conclusion that present metaphors used to guide inquiry into leadership are incapable of dealing with the complexity inherent in the phenomenon. An alternative metaphor, leader as medium, is described and adapted to group communication as relationships. Central to the medium metaphor of leadership is the law of requisite variety, a repertoire of actions, externalized constraints, retrospective sense making, and a here-and-now orientation. Implications of the medium metaphor to communication research and leadership training programs conclude the discussion. In 1974 Ivan Steiner asked the provocative question, &dquo;Whatever happened to the group in social psychology?&dquo; Whereas the waning interest in group research in social psychology is probably due to the preference of researchers to engage other phenomena, the decline in research activity in group communication is more likely explainable as a merger with research interests in interpersonal communication. When communication, rather than the &dquo;group,&dquo; is the focus of in