LAUSR

We have made great strides in leadership communication research and practice. We need only look to International Journal of Business Communication’s history to realize this progress. In 1972, a Journal of Business Communication article detailed the communication challenges of professional secretaries because they were vital channels for leader communication (Treece, 1972). This observation is not a criticism of the author or the journal. Instead, the article captured the reality of that time. That time has passed as demonstrated by the articles in this two-part special issue about leadership communication. These articles explore leadership communication in contemporary settings through multiple lenses and research methodologies. We introduce this collection of promising scholarship by defining leadership communication (reflecting), and then sharing our vision for these special issues (engaging)—including how the articles in the first issue fulfill it (innovating). We also integrate previous research with these studies. To begin, there are many definitions for leadership communication and its roots. And the field of business communication enriches these diverse viewpoints since it is multidisciplinary with multicultural participants. Case in point, some disciplines such as management tend to promote the psychological perspective of leadership with individually centered communication, often with formal position power and research goals that emphasize adding organizational value (Fairhurst, 2001; Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2013; French, Raven, & Cartwright, 2015; Walker, 2014; Walker & Aritz, 2014). In comparison, other disciplines emphasize discursive leadership, where leaders emerge through socially constructed reality. The latter perspective underscores shared, fluid leadership communication processes and highlights their discovery and impact on participants (Fairhurst, 2001, 2009; Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2013; Walker, 2014; Walker & Aritz, 2014). Furthermore, scholars have shown cultural biases in perceived leadership, including its communication. For example, disparate rule sets guide turn taking