The development of the Personality Audit: a psychodynamic multiple feedback assessment instrument

The Personality Audit (PA) was developed to meet a need for a relatively simple multiple feedback instrument that could clarify the various motivational needs of executives. Using a psychodynamic approach to leadership, the PA allows the test-taker to assess him- or herself in seven personality dimensions important in human behaviour and to identify personal ‘blind spots’. The resulting insights can be used to formulate appropriate leadership development goals.

The objective of this paper is to describe the design and psychometric properties of the PA. This instrument, in contrast with other tools that can be used to clarify the inner theatre of individuals, is designed not only to report information given by the test-taker but also to reflect the perceptions of observers representing both the test-taker's public and private spheres. This paper describes in detail the conceptual foundations of the questionnaire, the psychometric methods used to confirm its validity and reliability, and possible directions for future research.     

Public Service Leaders as ‘Change Agents’ – for Whom?

Abstract

This article examines how far senior staff in English educational and health service organizations view themselves as leaders who are ‘change agents’ for government-driven reform and independent change agendas. The contribution of external leadership development provision to shaping these self-perceptions is explored. Special attention is paid to national leadership development bodies with different degrees of formal association with government. Whatever this relationship, such provision and other development support apparently reinforced a strong sense of personal agency (choice of action) associated with being a leader, empowering senior staff to adopt a modestly mediatory stance towards both reform and leadership development provision.     

Development and application of the Leadership Archetype Questionnaire

The leadership assessment questionnaire (LAQ) is a 360 degree survey instrument designed to help organizational leaders identify their own style of leadership and formulate appropriate development objectives. It is designed to provide avenues for development of an executive team in which multiple leadership archetypes are represented. The LAQ is based on eight leadership archetypes – strategist, change-catalyst, transactor, builder, innovator, processor, coach, and communicator. These archetypes are representations of ways of leading in a complex organizational environment. In this article, we discuss the development, design, and psychometric analysis of the LAQ. We detail the conceptual foundations of the questionnaire and the psychometric methods used to confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument. We conclude with avenues for future research.     

Community Leadership and the Construction of Political Legitimacy: Unpacking Bourdieu's ‘Political Capital’ in Post‐Apartheid Johannesburg

Apart from local monographs and normative texts on community participation, research on community leadership constitutes a blind spot in urban leadership, urban politics, social movements and urban studies. This article, based on case studies in post‐apartheid Johannesburg, contributes to theorizing community leadership, or informal local political leadership, by exploring Bourdieu's concepts of ‘political capital’ and ‘double dealings’. Considering community leaders as brokers between local residents and various institutions (in South Africa, the state and the party), we examine how leaders construct their political legitimacy, both towards ‘the bottom’ (building and maintaining their constituencies), and towards ‘the top’ (seeking and sustaining recognition from fractions of the party and the state). These legitimation processes are often in tension, pulling community leaders in contradictory directions, usefully understood under Bourdieu's concept of ‘double dealings’. Community leaders are required, more than formally elected political leaders, to constantly reassert their legitimacy in multiple local public arenas due to the informal nature of their mandate and the high level of political competition between them — with destructive consequences for local polity but also the potential for increased accountability to their followers. We finally reflect on the relevance of this theoretical framework, inspired by Bourdieu, beyond South African urban politics.     

Modes of cross-cultural leadership adjustment: adapting leadership to meet local conditions and/or changing followers to match personal requirements?

In this article, we present a study that explores modes of cross-cultural leadership adjustment (CLA) and investigates the forces influencing them. Nigel Nicholson’s theory of work role transitions was used as the theoretical foundation to explore work role requirements (consisting of role discretion and novelty of job demands) as potential predictors of modes of CLA. Our data were collected from expatriate senior managers working in Thailand. The results show that the majority of our expatriate executives make adjustments to their leadership approach and try to change Thai employees – thus demonstrating the adoption of an exploration mode of adjustment – and that role requirements, Thai employee characteristics, the local hierarchy system and the expatriate leaders’ perceptions all influence the latter’s modes of adjustment. Based on our findings, we develop a theoretical framework and a number of research propositions. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings.     

Agreeing to disagree? Explaining self–other disagreement on leadership behaviour

ABSTRACT

Leadership research tends to treat differences among ratings of the same leaders as measurement error. Our study makes such varying perceptions of leadership behaviour its main phenomenon of investigation. We conceptualize divergent leadership ratings based on the difference between managers’ self-ratings and team members’ assessments of leadership behaviour. Using data from three German public organizations on 51 teams and 190 leader–follower dyads, we find that divergent leadership ratings are a function of managers’ motivation, their use of managerial reflection routines, and team members’ personality. The findings point to the importance of using multisource feedback and developing managers’ self- and other-awareness.     

Creating a healthy working environment with leadership: the concept of health-promoting leadership

In this paper, a concept of health-promoting leadership is presented that focuses on the interaction between working environment and leadership behavior. Seven key aspects define health-promoting leadership: health awareness, low workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values. The self-assessment version of the questionnaire was used in this study for the first time. Analyzing the data of 299 leaders, the results showed satisfactory reliability and validity coefficients for all dimensions. Structural equation modeling indicates that all dimensions can be assigned on a main factor of health-promoting leadership. The questionnaire offers two main advantages: first, it is possible to measure health-promoting behavior strategies of leaders and thus show their leadership potential. Second, the instrument allows analyzing critical aspects in the working environment and further helps establish basic conditions in the workplace, where a health-promoting workplace can be created.     

Recruiting leaders: an analysis of leadership advertisements

Recruiting the right leaders is an important challenge for organisations. How do organisations find these leaders? This article looks at the recruitment of leaders through advertisements. We address to what extent the ‘vocabulary of leadership’ originating in influential leadership theories is actively used in communication about leadership positions. All job advertisements (4,217) that appeared in a consistent source in the public domain in the UK (Times newspaper) were collected for a period of 15 months. Out of the total number of advertisements, 1,390 were advertisements for leadership positions (chairman, CEO or director). The information in these advertisements was recorded and content analysed. The analyses highlight what terminology organisations use in attracting the desired leaders. In general, ‘people oriented’ and ‘transformational’ terms are used far more than terms describing ‘task oriented’ or ‘transactional’ qualities. Differences were found between advertisements for CEO and lower level leader (director) positions that seem to reflect the difference in hierarchical level and magnitude of the leadership responsibility of these roles.     

Ambidextrous leadership,paradox and contingency: evidence from Angola

Abstract

The study departs from two assumptions. First, it considers that organizations, their leaders and the HRM function are inherently paradoxical and that, in that sense, dealing with paradox is a necessary component of the leadership process which requires ambidexterity capabilities. Second, it explores whether the paradoxes of leadership may manifest differently in different contexts. We explore the emergence of paradox in the leadership of Angolan organizations. Angola is an economy transitioning from a centrally planned to a market mode, and this makes it a rich site for understanding the specificities of ambidextrous paradoxical processes in an under-researched, ‘rest of the world’, context. The findings of our inductive study led to the emergence of four interrelated paradoxes and highlight the importance of ambidextrous paradoxical work as a HRM contingency.     

The Importance of Attributional Complexity for Transformational Leadership Studies

Attributional complexity refers to the capability of discriminating and integrating dimensions related to social judgment in order to understand social behaviour. While previous leadership research has examined the role of leader attributions, it has neglected the role of attributional complexity. We theorize and find support for a relationship between higher attributional complexity and transformational leadership behaviours, based on a sample of 100 leaders and their direct reports. Leaders who were more complex in their social judgments, attributing complex external and internal causes to others' behaviours and actions, were seen as more transformational by their direct reports. Our findings suggest that attributional complexity is a construct that warrants consideration in future research on both transformational leadership and leadership attributions.     

A Socio‐Psychological Perspective on Team Ambidexterity: The Contingency Role of Supportive Leadership Behaviours

In addressing the notion of team ambidexterity, we propose that socio‐psychological factors (i.e., team cohesion and team efficacy) may help team members to resolve paradoxical challenges and to combine exploratory and exploitative learning efforts. In addition, we theorize that senior executives may play an important role in facilitating the emergence of ambidexterity at lower hierarchical levels. In doing so, we develop a multilevel contingency framework and propose that the effectiveness of teams to achieve ambidexterity is contingent upon supportive leadership behaviours at the organizational‐level. Using multilevel, multisource, and temporally separated data on 87 teams within 37 high‐tech and pharmaceutical firms, we not only reveal how team cohesion and efficacy may matter for the emergence of team ambidexterity but also show that the effectiveness of supportive leadership behaviours from senior executives varies across cohesive and efficacious teams.     

Enabling Shared Leadership in Virtual Project Teams: A Practitioners' Guide

Many virtual project teams perform better when leadership is shared (rather than centralized with the formal team leader); however, team leaders are often neither prepared to identify shared leadership potential nor to actually share leadership responsibility. Based on a study of 96 globally dispersed software development teams we show that team leaders tend to underestimate the team members’ capacity to lead themselves. As a consequence, these leaders monopolize decision‐making authority and provide insufficient levels of autonomy for team members to tackle their tasks. Preventing the team members from unfolding their true potential, these leaders unconsciously jeopardize virtual team performance. Paradoxically, it is thus team leaders themselves hindering leadership effectiveness in virtual teams.     

Narcissism and Empowerment: How Narcissism Influences the Trickle-Down Effects of Organizational Empowerment Climate on Performance

The present study proposes a trickle-down model of employee empowerment in which empowerment climate at the organization level is positively related to the empowering leadership of team leaders and ultimately to individual task performance. Importantly, we hypothesize that team leaders’ and members’ narcissism can respectively inhibit and enable the cross-level empowerment process by affecting the intended distribution of decision-making authority and resources between team leaders and members. The analysis of data from 834 team members of 189 teams in 46 organizations reveals that organizational empowerment climate is positively related to team leaders’ empowering leadership when they are less narcissistic. Empowering leadership is positively related to individual task performance when team members are highly narcissistic. Finally, we observe that the combination of less narcissistic leaders and more narcissistic members is a condition under which the indirect effect of organizational empowerment climate on individual task performance through empowering leadership is positive.     

Managing employee innovative behaviour through transformational and transactional leadership styles

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the associations between leadership styles and employee innovative behaviour. We studied the implementation of an ambitious innovation strategy in a large Danish municipality and examined how transformational and transactional leadership styles relate to innovative behaviour. We combined data from two sources rating leadership styles of immediate supervisors and employee innovative behaviour. The findings suggest that transformational leadership and one component of transactional leadership, namely verbal rewards, are positively associated with innovative behaviour. The interaction between the two shows that innovative behaviour is most likely when the leader combines transformational leadership with verbal rewards.     

Leadership for Collaboration

Abstract

‘Leadership’ and ‘collaboration’ are integral to twenty-first century governance and management but, despite a growing literature, understanding about leadership for collaboration is hampered by a lack of specificity and nuance in theory and empirical research. This article responds to these limitations by working within an interpretive framework and employing Q-method to uncover different interpretations of leadership for collaboration operant among public managers in Wales. The article uses the concept of situated agency to explain why public managers offer diverse interpretations of leadership for collaboration despite working within the same governance framework, and to identify challenges to public managers in determining appropriate leadership for collaboration.     

A diagnosis of leadership effectiveness in the Irish public sector

Abstract

As Ireland has followed other countries in modernizing its public sector according to the principles of ‘new public management’ (without introducing market mechanisms on the same scale as its Anglo-Saxon counterparts), the capacity of its public managers to supply the leadership required to drive this programme forward has been identified as a crucial factor affecting its sustainability. A broadly representative sample of Irish public managers has been surveyed using the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis diagnostic instrument to identify those behaviours that need to be developed since they are infrequently used or can moderate the liabilities associated with frequently used behaviours. The findings of this study are interpreted within the context of a broader literature that debates the distinctiveness, significance and malleability of organizational leadership, in general, and the possibility of achieving a balance between different and, at times, conflicting public leadership behaviours, in particular.     

Introduction

Leadership is under review and open for criticism in ways not seen for some time. Where is leadership when we need it, we ask? Where are the leaders who can solve our problems? Moreover, change is the new constant, and we need leaders who are prepared to embrace change and ambiguity and help followers deal with change. Sometimes it feels like we are in permanent whitewater. Where are the leaders who can deal with the ever‐changing landscape and help us move to a positive future? Many of them are among us. They are the up‐and‐coming emerging leaders of Generations X and Y. This symposium focuses on these leaders of the future—the emerging leaders among us. What challenges do they face? What kind of leaders do they want to be? How do we best prepare them? The five articles that follow present a variety of views for our consideration, and the authors hope to start a boarder conversation about the next generation of leaders and their leadership challenges. Mhatre and Conger stress that authentic leadership principles are needed in workplaces now and in the future. They remind us that organizations are often composed of individuals born during different times, circumstances,and situations, thereby creating challenges for leaders in those organizations. Current research related to Gens X and Y, cited by the authors, highlights some of the generational differences and preferences. The authors see that the differences could create a “fertile ground for intraorganizational conflict, especially differences in how to manage and work within changing organizational climates.” One potential solution, according to Mhatre and Conger, can be found in the four components of authentic leadership principles: self‐awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency. If authentic leadership is in place, Gens X and Y can lead authentically, thereby facilitating sustainable and positive work environments. The authors predict positive results for organizations when authentic leadership is in place. Carucci and Epperson also focus on cross‐generational relationships and voice their concern with the negative consequences of labeling various age groups as Millennials, Boomers, Xers, Yers—labels that emphasize the divide. What we need, they argue, is less polarization and more connections. The article explores what it means for leaders of multigenerations to thrive together in partnership. They discuss the “elusive contest between the legacy of incumbent leaders and the potential of emerging leaders and ask us to consider mutual vulnerability as common ground.” They also summarize research on mentoring that looks at the gap between the numbers of emerging leaders who are mentored compared with the large numbers who desire mentors and ongoing relationships. The research follows up on earlier work on this topic explored in their books Leadership Divided and Bridging the Leadership Divide. Their article provides a personal case study demonstrating how generations can come together in partnership, thereby strengthening their organizations as well as the individuals involved. Perucci follows up on some of the themes highlighted by Carucci and Epperson as well as Mhatre and Conger and focuses on the way Millennials (Gen Y) are shaping organizations in the 21st century. Perucci reminds us that as we consider the implications of multiple generations working within the same organization, we must emphasize the crosscultural dimensions of intragenerational leadership. Globalization is reshaping leadership not only at the vertical level (multiple generations working side by side), but also horizontally (communication and technology reshaping the way Millennials interact across national boundaries). He suggests that just as leadership involves leaders, followers, and shared goals, successful leadership also requires an awareness of leading across cultures. He argues that effective leaders will be those who learn to work together “across boundaries in order to solve complex global problems.” Penney's article, “Voices of the Future: Leadership for the 21st Century,” focuses on both Generations X and Y (primarily X) and explores how those emerging leaders see leadership in the future and what kind of leaders they want to be. What leadership qualities/behaviors do they see as important? Themes of collaboration and inclusiveness are important to these emerging leaders, and they place high values on trust and integrity. Because they value inclusiveness, they work more easily across racial, ethnic, and gender differences and lines than did previous generations. The article also discusses what organizations need to do to attract and retain Generations X and Y. More flexible work arrangements are important as is having business organizations committed to corporate social responsibility and green initiatives. The findings come from the recent book Next Generation Leadership: Insights from Emerging Leaders (Penney & Neilson 2010). Tulgan and his colleagues at RainmakerThinking, Inc., have been conducting interviews with young people in the workplace for two decades. His article has a theme similar to Penney's in that he discusses ways to develop new leaders, primarily Generation Y. He addresses issues such as, how do we help them step into leadership roles successfully? He also addresses the question of why some of them are reluctant to take on supervisory roles. The article offers specific suggestions about ways to guide young professionals to prepare them for assuming leadership roles. He suggests that senior leaders should give frequent feedback to the top performers in Gen Y rather than leaving them on their own. He argues that too often we ignore high performers as we focus time and effort on the not‐so‐successful ones. According to Tulgan, more generous reward systems and hospitable work conditions are needed to retain high performers. In addition, he wants senior leaders to do more to help Gen Yers establish their credibility when they are given roles of increased responsibility. Conclusions There is a sense of optimism in play as you read these articles. Although there are differences found between Generations X and Y, overall the next generation of leaders also share some commonalities. They are more collaborative and inclusive than previous generations. And these emerging leaders are bringing a fresh approach to leadership and moving us away from the leader as “hero” or all‐knowing source of power and influence. Their desire for collaboration can help bridge the generation gap between Boomers and young professionals. Each brings particular strengths to their organizations, so as they work together, stronger institutions can be the result. Integrity is also important to emerging leaders, and authentic leadership behaviors hold much promise for strengthening our organizations. These emerging leaders can work well across cultures and are more comfortable with inclusion and diversity than those of previous generations. The authors provide several suggestions for working with and retaining young professionals so that their leadership skills are strengthened. Emerging leaders need support and honest feedback; they want reward systems that differentiate; they request flexible work arrangements. They also want to see corporate social responsibility in place in the business world. Emerging leaders of Generations X and Y are ready to assume leadership roles, but many do not want to lead as they have been led. We must do all we can as senior leaders, as academics, and as colleagues to prepare them for these responsibilities. As we pass the torch to a new generation of leaders, let's be certain they are well equipped for the task and ready to lead.     

Inclusive leadership via empathic communication

In today’s rapidly changing society, leaders have to constantly deal with multiple urgent demands interacting with others through various communication modalities - that can happen face to face, via video conferencing, phone calls, etc. - and guide diverse groups of individuals. Having empathic conversations is key for inclusive leadership. Leaders need to understand their emotions and others’ emotional state to build bonds for effective collaboration at work. Yet the reality is that it is challenging for leaders to be aware of their own empathic or non-empathic approach, especially given that hybrid communication is required in their daily lives. This paper introduces communication approaches for empathic conversations considering various modalities including face-to-face, video, or voice-only communication. We provide step-by-step instructions and guided questions to showcase how to develop empathic communication skills. With these strategies, leaders can practice their empathy ‘muscle’ considering various communication modalities with a focus on non-verbal and verbal cues.     

Expanding leadership diversity through formal mentoring programs

To attract and retain people, it is essential that organizations design and successfully implement programs and processes that develop people and nurture their talents. For those who aspire to a leadership role, the opportunity to engage in mentoring relationships with senior‐level leaders is a powerful way to accelerate growth. In the majority of informal mentoring relationships, mentors and protégés share similar racial, gender, and cultural backgrounds. Senior leaders in most large organizations are still primarily white males. As a result, it can be difficult for people from diverse backgrounds who aspire to higher level leadership roles to find senior executives with whom they can develop a mentoring relationship. To address this challenge, some organizations have implemented formal mentoring programs that are specifically designed to facilitate development of people from diverse backgrounds. Unfortunately, previous research studies conducted on the impact of formal mentoring relationships have shown that these programs do not consistently achieve the desired outcomes. The change intervention described in this article suggests that formal mentoring programs can significantly influence the movement of protégés from diverse backgrounds into higher level leadership positions.     

The strength of human resource practices and transformational leadership: impact on organisational performance

The Human resource (HR) strength concept (Bowen, D., and Ostroff, C. 2004, ‘Understanding HRM-Firm Performance Linkages: The Role of the “Strength” of the HRM System,’ Academy of Management Review, 29, 2, 203–221) reflects the capacity of an HR system to transmit messages characterised by high distinctiveness, consistency and consensus. HR systems are therefore affecting perceptions and interpretations of organisational realities, such as climate and culture. Furthermore, Bowen and Ostroff (2004) suggest that organisational climate mediates the relationship between HR strength and performance. The leadership literature advocates that leaders are people who are able to create a social context in which employees are guided towards a shared interpretation, understanding and perception of the organisational climate (Yukl, G.A. 1989, Leadership in Organizations, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall). In summary, both HR strength and leadership are two environment dimensions shaping and moulding employees' perceptions and interpretations. The current study explores the relationships between HR strength, leadership, organisational climate and performance. 323 questionnaires were used to gather information from a company in the industrial sector. The results show a positive relationship between the variables; however, mediating effects of climate were only observed between leadership and performance.