Toward a scholarship of peace leadership

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the phenomenon of peace leadership, an emerging sub-area of leadership studies. Design/methodology/approach - This literature review discusses peace leadership scholarly work specifically identified as such by its authors, and therefore does not include literature potentially viewed as informing the broader discussion of peace leadership. Findings - The peace leadership specific scholarly literature discussed herein includes work on the traits, characteristics, and practices of peace leaders; peace leader role and responsibilities; and the connective and collective nature of peace leadership. Originality/value - Discussion of the literature concludes a proposed definition of peace leadership and with three suggestions for ways to continue to build peace leadership scholarship including: empirical studies, theoretical and conceptual model creation, and ongoing informed discussions, and in itself contributes to the emerging conversation of peace leadership.