Role of the Leader in Therapy Groups Conducted With Illicit Drug Abusers: How Directive Does the Leader Have to Be?

A 17-hour marathon group was conducted in a residential treatment center established for inmates in a correctional setting in the southeastern United States. The Hill Interaction Matrix (HIM-G; Hill, 1965) was used to measure the types of leader activity and the types of member activity during portions of each hour of the group activity. It was found that when the group was most therapeutic, there was a relationship between the therapists' actions and behaviors and the types of issues that were discussed in the group. The results that were found do not agree with some of the established drug and alcohol abuse literature.     

Does Family Life Help to be a Better Leader? A Closer Look at Crossover Processes From Leaders to Followers

Although research on family‐to‐work processes is accumulating, not many studies have looked at how the leader's family issues spillover to work and what the consequences are for their followers. We investigate whether leaders’ family‐to‐work conflict (FWC) and enrichment (FWE) influence first their own well‐being at work (i.e., job burnout and work engagement) and consequently the well‐being of their followers due to crossover processes. We test whether crossover is due to the transfer of emotions from the leader to followers (affective crossover) or due to diminished or enhanced support from the leader (behavioral crossover). Using a sample of 199 leaders and 456 followers, we found that leader FWC (Time 1) was positively related to leader feelings of burnout 4 weeks later (Time 2), consequently enhancing follower feelings of burnout 5 weeks after Time 1 (Time 3). Similarly, leader FWE had a positive relationship with follower engagement, through leader enhanced engagement. Our findings fully supported the affective crossover mechanism. In addition, leader burnout was negatively related to leader supportive behavior, indirectly increasing burnout among followers. Our results underscore that leaders’ family life matters at work, influencing not only their own well‐being but also how they motivate and support their followers.     

Who Wants to Follow the Leader? Using Personality and Work Value Profiles to Predict Preferences for Charismatic,Ideological, and Pragmatic Styles of Leading

Despite the contributions of charismatic and transformational theories, their universal applicability has recently been called into question. Dovetailing this debate is a growing interest in followers. We contribute to these discussions by examining the impact of follower individual difference profiles on preferences for charismatic, ideological, and pragmatic styles of leading. Drawing on Weber’s (1924) taxonomy of managerial authority in its reconceptualized form as the charismatic-ideological-pragmatic (CIP) model, we conducted a vignette study in which 415 working adults first completed an online survey assessing their personality and work values. Eight weeks later, a second survey asked them to read a fictional scenario about an organization and three speeches depicting each leader’s style. Participants then indicated their leader preference, which we sought to predict using their personality and work values profiles. Results of discriminant function analyses indicated certain linear combinations of personality and work values variables discriminated between participants’ leader preferences.     

Leader Profiles and Their Effectiveness on Employees’ Outcomes

An underlying premise of the transformational–transactional leadership theory is that different forms of leadership can reside simultaneously within the same individual. This fundamental hypothesis has received scarce attention in the empirical literature. The objectives of this study are thus to examine whether leader profiles combining these leadership forms do exist and to evaluate how these profiles are associated with specific employee attitudes and behaviors. Results obtained from two different samples using cluster analyses revealed six different leader profiles (i.e., superleaders, transactors, moderate leaders, distant-visionary, distant-rewarding, and distant-punitive leaders). Our results showed that these types of leaders differ in terms of employees’ perceptions of trust, justice, and commitment, as well as supervisor-rated in-role and contextual performance. Results and implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Following the Leader? Mormon Voting on Ballot Propositions

Why did Utah voters—most of whom are Mormons—vote in favor of repealing Prohibition in 1933, and against a modest relaxation of Utah's liquor laws in 1968? In answering this question, we illuminate some important facets of the political behavior of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐day Saints. We hypothesize that Mormons are likely to “follow their leaders” on political questions when two conditions hold: (1) official endorsement of a position by LDS church leaders; and (2) internal agreement among those leaders. Each is necessary, but neither is sufficient alone. In 1933, only one of these two conditions held; in 1968 both did. Using ecological inference to generate estimates of individual‐level behavior of Mormon and non‐Mormon voters in Utah, we find that Mormon voters were significantly more likely to vote in accordance with the Mormon Church's official position in 1968 than in 1933. We further test our hypothesis by examining other referenda in states with a large Mormon population. We conclude with a discussion of when and how contemporary Mormon leaders get involved in political issues.     

A step too far? Leader racism inhibits transgression credit

Prior research established that when in‐group leaders commit serious transgressions, such as breaking enforceable rules or engaging in bribery, people treat them leniently compared with similarly transgressive regular group members or out‐group leaders (‘transgression credit’). The present studies test a boundary condition of this phenomenon, specifically the hypothesis that transgression credit will be lost if a leader's action implies racist motivation. In study 1, in a corporate scenario, a transgressive in‐group leader did or did not express racism. In study 2, in a sports scenario, an in‐group or out‐group leader or member transgressed rules with or without a racist connotation. Both studies showed that in‐group transgressive leaders lost their transgression credit if their transgression included a racial connotation. Wider implications for constraining leaders' transgressions are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leader–member exchange and turnover before and after succession events

We conducted two studies that investigated the role of leadership succession as a moderator of the relationship between LMX and turnover in organizations. In a sample of 330 employees in 45 veterinary hospitals, high-LMX employees were less likely to leave the organization prior to a succession event but in nine hospitals that experienced a succession event, high-LMX employees were more likely to leave than low-LMX employees following the event. In the second study, we used a between subjects repeated measures simulation of leadership succession in a survey of 496 employed adults across different organizations. We found LMX is predictive of affective and cognitive reactions to succession events, and that these reactions mediate the relationship between LMX and turnover intentions after a simulated succession event. We discuss the implications of finding that succession events can be disruptive to organizations and groups because high-LMX employees may subsequently leave.     

The Impact of Decision Timing on the Effectiveness of Leaders’ Apologies to Repair Followers’ Trust in the Aftermath of Leader Failure

Purpose

The aim of the present research was to investigate how a negative decision outcome generated by a leader in a hasty, timely, or delayed manner impacts upon the need for, and the effectiveness of apologies to restore followers’ trust.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected using five studies in which the effects of timing of an incorrect decision on the trust repair process were investigated.

Findings

In the aftermath of a leader’s failure, followers experienced a delayed incorrect decision as a more severe transgression than a hasty or a timely incorrect decision. This effect was mediated by procedural fairness concerns (Study 1). The present findings also revealed an interesting paradox. Specifically, in the delayed condition followers expressed the highest need for an apology (Studies 2 and 3), but at the same time expected an apology to be less effective for enhancing trustworthiness than in the timely and the hasty condition (Study 3). Moreover, we also showed that the actual provision of an apology was effective for restoring both trustworthiness (Study 4) and trust (Studies 4 and 5) in the timely and the hasty condition, but ineffective in the delayed condition.

Implications

The present research shows that when the outcome of a decision is uncertain, it is better to make a decision (too) soon rather than (too) late.

Originality/Value

Despite the ubiquity of timing errors in daily life, our studies are the first to focus on the role of timeliness of decisions in the trust repair process.

     

Real Men Don’t Make Mistakes: Investigating the Effects of Leader Gender, Error Type, and the Occupational Context on Leader Error Perceptions

Purpose

Despite the fact that leaders make mistakes, little attention has been paid to the effects of errors on subordinate perceptions. This study investigated the influence of errors on perceptions of leader competence, effectiveness, and desire to work for the leader. It also examined the effects of gendered expectations on perceptions of male and female leader errors by investigating the interactions that occur between the leader’s gender, the type of error, and the occupational context.

Design/Methodology

A sample of 284 undergraduates read a series of fictional employee emails describing a leader’s behavior and responded to several measures while envisioning themselves as subordinates of the leader.

Findings

Results suggested task and relationship errors exert damaging and differential effects on perceptions of leader task and relationship competence, respectively, and equally damage desire to work for the leader. Male leaders were perceived as less task and relationship competent, desirable to work for, and effective than female leaders for committing errors in a masculinized domain.

Implications

This study suggests leader errors matter, and that current leadership models ought to be expanded to account more clearly for them. Moreover, it offers insight into the role of gendered expectations in determining perceptions of male and female leader errors.

Originality/Value

This study is one of the first to empirically examine leader error perceptions and the effects of gender stereotypes on these perceptions. It represents a step toward understanding evaluations of male and female leaders, not when they succeed, but when they make mistakes.     

Leader–Follower Attachment: Implications for Personality Assessment in Organizational Contexts

As a life-span theory of personality that is supported by more than 40 years of empirical research, attachment theory and associated measures have contributed immensely to our understanding of emotion regulation, social dynamics, and behavior. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to how attachment dynamics influence relationships at work or the extent to which adult attachment patterns are mirrored in leaders' perceptions and behaviors toward their direct reports. Moreover, attachment measures that use romantic relationships as their referent might not be appropriate for use in organizational settings with executive clients. Thus, a measure that directly references direct reports and that could be put to use in organizational contexts is needed. The two studies reported here supported the two-factor orthogonal structure of such a measure and results from a sample of Fortune 500 executives reveal that leader attachment relates in theoretically consistent ways with general adult attachment, the Big Five, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking. Results are discussed in terms of integrating attachment measures into organizational personality assessment to inform work with organizational clients.     

Linking Justice, Performance, and Citizenship via Leader–Member Exchange

While organizational justice continues to garner attention by researchers, why perceptions of justice influence a variety of outcomes is still in need of explanation. In this paper, we examine one type of social exchange process that may provide a better link between perceptions of fairness and important organizational outcomes. Specifically, we examine how leader–member exchange (LMX) affects the relationship between employee perceptions of fairness and supervisor-rated performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Data from our study demonstrates that LMX fully mediates the relationship between interactional justice and performance and OCBs. In addition, the results demonstrate that LMX moderates the relationship between both distributive and procedural justice and OCBs.     

How to get radical creative ideas into a leader’s mind? Leader’s achievement goals and subordinates’ voice of creative ideas

In the present research we investigated when and why leaders tend to oppose or adopt radical creative ideas voiced by their subordinates. In a field study (Study 1, N = 127) we showed that leaders’ performance goals were positively related to their tendency to oppose radical creative ideas, whereas leaders’ mastery goals were positively related to their tendency to adopt them. We replicated these findings in an experimental study (Study 2, N = 90), in which we showed that performance goal leaders were more likely to oppose radical creative ideas voiced by their subordinates than mastery goal leaders, whereas mastery goal leaders were more likely to adopt those ideas than performance goal leaders. In Study 2, we further showed that the effects of leaders’ achievement goals on their oppose and adopt responses were mediated by the leaders’ interest in exploration. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 91), we experimentally demonstrated that oppose and adopt responses of performance goal leaders, rather than mastery goal leaders, were sensitive to the behavioural mode by which subordinates voiced their radical creative ideas. That is, performance goal leaders were less likely to oppose and more likely to adopt radical creative ideas when subordinates voiced them in a considerate mode rather than an aggressive mode.     

Gender Bias in Leader Selection? Evidence from a Hiring Simulation Study

The present research investigated factors that might affect gender discrimination in a hiring simulation context from the perspectives of social role theory and the shifting standards model. Specifically, the experimental study investigated whether gender biases are evident in the screening and hiring stage of the personnel selection process depending on the applicants?? social role and evaluators?? gender. A sample of German undergraduate business students (54 women, 53 men) was asked to make a personnel selection decision (short-listing or hiring) about a fictitious applicant (man or woman) in a specific role (leader or non-leader) for a managerial position. Consistent with social role theory??s assumption that social role information is more influential than gender information, participants selected applicants described as leaders over applicants described as non-leaders, regardless of applicant gender. In addition, in the presence of role information, female applicants portrayed as leaders were similarly short-listed and hired as male applicants with the same credentials. In the absence of role information, female applicants were similarly short-listed as male applicants; however, male applicants were hired over female applicants, albeit by male participants only. This is consistent with the shifting standards model??s assumption that group members are held to a higher standard to confirm traits on which they are perceived to be deficient: Male participants hired female applicants portrayed as non-leaders with less certainty than their male counterparts possibly due to higher confirmatory standards for leadership ability in women than men. The research and practice implications of these results are discussed.     

The ‘Crucified’ Leader: Cynicism,Fantasies and Paradoxes in Education

In this paper we argue that transnational as well as national political demands and expectations on the educational field are contributing to (re)produce four ideological-based educational leadership discourses in the literature. In order to conceptualize these discourses, we turn to the work of Schmidt (Diagnosis I—Filosoferende eksperimenter. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, 1999, On respect. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, 2011) and Zizek (Mapping ideology. Verso, New York, 2000, The sublime object of ideology. Verso, New York, 2008a). On that basis we identify four dominant educational leadership discourses: (a) a personhood-based discourse, (b) a profession-based discourse, (c) a standard-based discourse, and (d) a resource-based discourse. These discourses have—as we will show—various consequences for the way we think and talk about education and educational leadership in our age. Using examples that stem from a project about educational leadership in Danish upper secondary school, we will illustrate how educational leaders’ beings and doings are ‘regulated’ by these discourses, which place them in a tension field where different and conflicting (ideological) fantasies seem to be played out. Then, we will discuss how these fantasies can be challenged and how we can think and speak more intellectually about education and educational leadership. By using the term intellectual we are referring to educational leaders’ ability as human beings to critically reflect on their contemporary doings and beings within and beyond the existing social order. Hopefully this can help them (and us) to establish new ways for discussing not only what educational leadership is and should be about, but also what it could be about.     

An Examination of Exchange Quality and Work Stressors in Leader–Follower Dyads

This study examined the relationship between quality of leader–member exchange and follower perceptions of work stress. It was proposed that followers in higher quality exchanges were less likely to perceive work stressors than followers in exchanges of lower quality. Data collected from 215 employees of a midsized public university substantially supported this proposition. Quality of leadermember exchange was negatively related to role conflict, role ambiguity, low job scope, lack of career progress, and lack of participation experienced by followers.     

Demographic and Organizational Influences on Leader–Member Exchange and Related Work Attitudes

Demographic and organizational characteristics were examined for their ability to constrain or facilitate leader–member exchange [LMX] processes. Independent effects of these variables and LMX on work attitudes also were examined within a latent variable model. Data were collected from 208 employees in 31 public libraries. Demographic differences and organizational characteristics were found to be independently related to the quality of exchange. Organizational influences were more pervasive than demographic influences. Both context and LMX variables predicted work attitudes, with LMX providing an independent influence on those attitudes. Findings were consistent with the notions that LMX is a value-add process and that the leadership context can create boundaries for LMX development. The organizational findings also were consistent with the argument that context can affect leader discretion and thus LMX. Results are discussed in terms of boundary conditions on LMX and future research on understanding their role in leadership.     

The Joint Influence of Supervisor and Subordinate Emotional Intelligence on Leader–Member Exchange

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between supervisor and subordinate levels of emotional intelligence (EI) and leader–member exchange (LMX). Drawing on the similarity-attraction paradigm and behavioral integration theory, we propose that supervisor–subordinate EI similarity will play a prominent role in LMX development.