Conscious Leadership as Collective Cognition: A Conceptual Framework from Large-Scale Institutional Transformation

Leadership research has largely emphasized individual leaders and organizational-level outcomes, offering influential theories such as transformational and authentic leadership. However, these approaches provide limited explanatory power in contexts of sustained, large-scale institutional transformation, where authority is diffuse, temporal horizons are extended, and coordination challenges exceed the influence capacity of individual actors. This article develops a conceptual framework that reconceptualizes leadership as a form of collective cognition, defined as shared interpretive structures that guide decision-making, sustain coordination, and maintain continuity under prolonged uncertainty. Drawing on leadership theory, organizational sensemaking, and institutional analysis, the framework specifies three core constructs: implicit decision frameworks, collective historical cognition, and identity continuity mechanisms, and explains their dynamic interrelationships. Rather than advancing a context-specific or prescriptive model, the article offers a generalizable theoretical perspective with clearly articulated boundary conditions. By shifting attention from individual leaders to shared cognitive infrastructures, the framework extends leadership theory and provides a foundation for future empirical research on leadership during large-scale transformation.