Abstract
A rhetorical framework based on Burkean theory is used to analyze the relative success of leadership contenders in small groups in obtaining cooperation of the other members and resolving the struggle for leadership. The study adds to a gradually accumulating body of qualitative group research. A series of five steps delineates critical responsibilities for this analysis. To illustrate and support the conceptual schema, it has been applied to recorded discourse generated in two small, zero‐history, leaderless task groups. The analyses reveal the importance of transcending symbolic divisions in leadership emergence.

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