In the last 40 years, leadership studies (LS) have moved from a condition of near despair, where complaints of slow progress were commonplace, to a situation of self-confidence and self-praise. However, during recent years we have seen an upsurge in criticism alongside a contradiction between positive leadership ideas and a working life bearing little imprint of the upbeat messages said to characterize successful leaders. LS primarily produces results where “positive” leadership is correlated with various “positive” outcomes. This is made possible through peculiar conventions characterizing LS, which produce a recipe for flawed, but publishable, research and career progress. This paper points at 20 elements of this recipe and argues for a radical rethinking of LS norms and practices to develop more complex and sophisticated knowledge that is intellectually and methodologically sounder, facilitating less ideological and more relevant and insightful studies and research results.

在过去的40年中，领导力研究已从近乎绝望的状况转变为自信和自满，在这种情况下，进展缓慢的抱怨屡见不鲜。然而，近年来，我们看到批评声高涨，积极的领导思想与工作生活之间的矛盾，对成功领导者所表达的乐观信息几乎没有任何印记。LS主要产生“积极”领导与各种“积极”结果相关的结果。LS的特殊约定使之成为可能，从而产生了有缺陷但可发布的研究和职业发展秘诀。