In this paper, we draw on Foucault’s concept “governmentality” to show how a cohort of middle-aged senior managers who engaged in competitive endurance sports fabricated (avowed) “heroic” leader identities drawing on this repertoire of discursive resources. Neoliberalism constitutes a form of governmentality which encourages people to regard themselves as autonomous and to aspire to personal fulfillment by investing entrepreneurially in themselves as “human capital.” Healthism, which requires individuals be responsible for their own health and wellbeing, is one program by which this is accomplished. We analyze managers’ talk about themselves as people who self-examined, and sought continually to transform (improve) themselves, to avow identities as superior (heroic) leaders. Our study contributes to the literature on governmentality by showing how in neoliberalism “healthism” constructs managers as enterprising selves.

在本文中，我们利用福柯的“政府性”概念来展示一群从事竞技耐力运动的中年高级管理人员如何利用这种话语资源来制造（公开）“英雄”领导身份。新自由主义构成了一种政府形式，它鼓励人们将自己视为自主的，并渴望通过将自己作为“人力资本”进行创业投资来实现个人成就。健康主义要求个人对自己的健康和福祉负责，这是实现这一目标的一项计划。我们分析了管理者将自己描述为自我反省的人，并不断寻求改变（改进）自己，承认自己是卓越（英雄）领导者的身份。