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Journal of Business and Technical Communication
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Leadership Discourse in Action

A Textual Study of Organizational Change in a Government of Canada Department

Claire Harrison

Lynne Young

Carleton University

This article examines two discursive events during a major reorganization at Health Canada in 2000: a new leader’s informal speech to senior managers and his first formal memo to staff. Seen through the dual lens of systemic functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis, these events provide a perspective on the role of discourse in institutional settings. The events particularly illustrate the ways in which a leader’s discursive choices demonstrate conflicts between management styles: the command-and-control style of the old capitalism and that of the new capitalism, which defines the leader as a coach, mentor, facilitator, and motivator rather than as a commander. Unpacking leadership discourse can shed some light on how concealed messages contribute to the success or failure of discursive events, specifically at a time of organizational transformation when such discursive events are particularly important.

Key Words: leadership discourse • organizational discourse • bureaucratic discourse • organizational change • critical discourse analysis • systemic functional linguistics • discursive practices • phasal analysis • discourse analysis • new capitalism

Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Vol. 19, No. 1, 42-77 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1050651904269730
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