By James K. Beggan and Scott T. Allison

The focus of this new book is on how power, principles, and processes influence the way that sexuality exerts an influence on leadership and followership.

This book asks two questions: Why do unarguably intelligent and successful leaders put themselves into situations in which their sexuality will lead to their downfall?

And why are we, as members of the constituency, continually surprised by these revelations? Shouldn’t we expect it by now?

Although the question of why rich and powerful men (we are not being sexist here; it is more often men than women) risk their careers by engaging in illicit sexual activity is an interesting one, we suggest that the connection between leadership and sexuality is much more important, complex, and broad than the phenomenon of a sex scandal.

Sexual leadership can be viewed as operating at both macro- and micro-levels. Issues related to sexual leadership come into play when a nation decides in favor or against an abstinence-only policy with regard to sexual education, the Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage, or a husband and wife decide whether to try a new sexual position.

Sexual leadership also comes into play in grey and black markets. What leadership dynamics are involved in recruiting, motivating, and managing women who work as strippers, or as prostitutes? The purpose of this edited volume is to explore the largely ignored relationship between sexuality and leadership.

Leadership and Sexuality is published by Elgar and is now available for purchase.

Table of Contents

Introduction — Sexuality in Leadership: A Long-Neglected Topic with Vast Implications for Individuals and Society

James K. Beggan and Scott T. Allison

SECTION 1: Sexual Leaders

Chapter 1 — Playboy, Icon, Leader: Hugh Hefner and Postwar American Sexual Culture

Carrie Pitzulo

Chapter 2 — Planned Parenthood: 100 Years of Leadership and Controversy

Sheila Huss, Lucy Dwight, and Angela Gover

Chapter 3

Leadership and the Free the Nipple Movement: An Autoethnographic Case Study

James K. Beggan

SECTION 2: Leadership and Sexuality

Chapter 4

A Failure of Courageous Leadership: Sex, Embarrassment, and (Not) Speaking Up in the Penn State Sexual Abuse Scandal

Jeremy Fyke, Bree Trisler, and Kristen Lucas

Chapter 5

Because They Can:  Adult to Student Sexual Abuse in PreK-12 Schools

Charol Shakeshaft

Chapter 6

Heterosexism in Organizations: The Importance of Transformational and Heroic Leadership

Shaun Pichler

Chapter 7

Leadership in Strip Clubs

Maggie B. Stone

Chapter 8

Training Religious Leaders in Sexually-Related Issues

William R. Stayton

SECTION 3: The Sexuality of Leaders

 Chapter 9

 “Stupid is as Stupid Does” or Good Bayesian? A Sympathetic and Contrarian Analysis  of Bill Clinton’s Decision to Have an Affair with Monica Lewinsky

 James K. Beggan

 Chapter 10

 Leading and Following? Understanding the Power Dynamics in Consensual BDSM

Emma Turley

Chapter 11

Does the “Zipless Dance” Exist? Leadership, Followership, and Sexuality in Social Dancing

James K. Beggan and Scott T. Allison

Chapter 12

Heroic Leadership in The Walking Dead’s Post-Apocalyptic Universe: The Restoration and Regeneration of Society as a Hero Organism

Scott T. Allison and Olivia Efthimiou

References

Allison, S. T., Goethals, G. R., & Kramer, R. M. (Eds.) (2017). Handbook of heroism and heroic leadership. New York: Routledge.

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2016). Hero worship: The elevation of the human spirit. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 46, 187-210.

Allison, S. T. (2015). The initiation of heroism science. Heroism Science, 1, 1-8.

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2014). “Now he belongs to the ages”: The heroic leadership dynamic and deep narratives of greatness. In Goethals, G. R., et al. (Eds.), Conceptions of leadership: Enduring ideas and emerging insights. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137472038.0011

Beggan, J. K., & Harbison, J. M. (2007). Sex. In M. Flood, J. K. Gardiner, B. Pease, & K. Pringle (Eds.). Routledge international encyclopedia of men and masculinities. Oxford: Routledge.

Beggan, J. K., Vencill, J. A., & Garos, S. (2013). The good-in-bed effect: College students’ tendency to see themselves as better than others as a sex partner. Journal of Psychology, 147, 415-134.

Goethals, G. R., Allison, S. T., Kramer, R., & Messick, D. (Eds.) (2014). Conceptions of leadership: Enduring ideas and emerging insights. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137472038

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2011). Heroes: What they do and why we need them. New York: Oxford University Press.