Abstract
This paper explores how the “kinetic elite”—highly mobile corporate executives, international consultants, diplomats, and global entrepreneurs—manage the emotional and organizational strains of perpetual mobility. As organizations adapt to the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) of the global landscape, mobile leadership has become increasingly central, yet its emotional infrastructures remain critically underexamined. Drawing on Marc Augé’s concept of “non-places”—standardized, transient spaces of global travel such as airport lounges, hotel chains, and coworking hubs—this study investigates how the kinetic elite forge emotional stability through ritual, brand consistency, and sensory familiarity. Situated at the intersection of organizational studies and mobilities research, the project adopts a qualitative approach, combining semi-structured interviews, autoethnographic fieldnotes, and spatial observation. Preliminary analysis suggests that repeated engagements with non-places subtly reinforce leadership presence, decision-making clarity, and personal coherence across diverse cultural contexts. Yet access to these emotional infrastructures simultaneously reproduces organizational inequalities, carving privileged enclaves of stability amid broader environments of fragmentation. The paper concludes by arguing for greater recognition of emotional infrastructures as critical yet invisible elements of organizational life, particularly as institutions confront the demands of leadership in an era defined by hypermobility.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Kinetic Elite, Non-Places, Elite Mobilities, Emotional Infrastructures, Organizational Leadership
