What skills do physician leaders need now and in the future?

The role of the physician leader is moving beyond traditional medical staff issues. A recent national survey of physician leaders shows a growing need for education on specific technical, leadership, and practical skills. The results reveal the medical leadership skills that physician executives consider important today, and provide a window to the future about the skills that will be important tomorrow. Physicians say they need training now in quality assurance, clinical benchmarking, decision-making, and strategic planning. And when they gaze into the future and see the rapid changes throughout health care, they say they'll need more training in communication, organizational change, effective listening, and systems thinking.     

When do leaders sacrifice?: The effects of sense of power and belongingness on leader self-sacrifice

Past research on leader self-sacrifice has focused entirely on the effects of this leader behavior on followers and its implications for organizations. The present research focused on antecedents of leader self-sacrifice. We argued that self-sacrifice is positively influenced by leaders' sense of belongingness to the group they supervise. Furthermore, leaders' subjectively sensed power can serve as a moderator of this effect. We expected this because a high sense of power is known to facilitate goal pursuit. Given that organizational goals often prescribe serving the interests of the organization, leaders' sense of belongingness should promote self-sacrifice particularly among leaders low in subjective power; leaders high in subjective power should display self-sacrifice regardless of their sense of belongingness. Two field studies supported these predictions. A final experiment supported a critical assumption underlying our argument in showing that the sense of power × sense of belongingness interaction is restricted to situations that prescribe cooperative goals. When situations prescribe competitive goals, this interaction was absent.     

In learning mode? The role of mindsets in derailing and enabling experiential leadership development

In comparison to the vast literature on leadership theories, concepts, and behaviors, relatively less is known about why leaders often learn little from their leadership experiences, as well as how to support them in doing so. We propose that leaders learn more from their challenging leadership experiences when they are in learning mode, defined as intentionally framing and pursuing each element of the experiential learning process with more of a growth than a fixed mindset. We describe how the extent to which leaders are in learning mode stems from salient mindset cues and guides whether they work through the experiential learning process with a predominantly self-improvement or self-enhancement motive. We theorize about several other likely mediators and moderators of when being in learning mode will manifest in experiential leadership development. Practical implications at the micro, meso, and macro levels, as well as within management education are outlined.     

What kind of leaders will be successful?

The U.S. health care system is fundamentally changing. The pace of change is swift but will vary, depending on regional market forces and state legislative mandates. This complex change is leading to rapid market consolidation of providers and insurers into organizations called "integrated health care systems." There is, as yet, no proven role model that will guarantee success. The purpose of this article is two-fold: To help individuals who see an expanding role for themselves in integrated health care management decide if they have what it is going to take to be successful. To identify individual management training needs by use of a self-evaluation tool. Some of the needed skills can be enhanced by education and experience. However, some are personality and style characteristics that may not be changeable.     

The diversity gap in leadership: What are we missing in current theorizing?

Relational models of organizational inequalities offer numerous insights around the role of micro, meso and macro processes that drive differential progress of diverse individuals into senior leadership roles. We propose that the Bourdieusian relational framework of capital, habitus and field, and Bourdieu's conception of symbolic violence, provide a powerful explanatory lens for understanding the continuing lack of diversity among our corporate leaders. In applying this framework, we highlight critical shortcomings in current conceptions of leadership development and significant implications for leadership theory. We highlight the ways in which gendered and racialized structures are created and reinforced preventing access to opportunities for corporate leadership to diverse individuals. Future leadership theorizing needs to place greater attention upon the context in which development occurs, how valuable capital comes to be prescribed, as well as the forces at work in generating structures that perpetuate differential access to the capital necessary to progress as leaders.     

The moderating role of leader and follower sex in dyads on the leadership behavior–leader effectiveness relationships

Transformational leadership (TL) and leader–member exchange (LMX) literatures provide theoretical frameworks and accompanying empirical evidence for studying the relationship between leader behavior and effectiveness. Although prior attention has been given to gender differences in leadership style and leader effectiveness, the moderating effects of the sex of the leader and subordinate on the leadership–leader effectiveness relationship have not been investigated. In a field study of employees from a manufacturing plant, we examined whether leader and subordinate sex, and the sex composition of the leader–subordinate dyad, moderated the linkages of each set of leader behaviors (i.e., TL and LMX) with actual evaluations of leader effectiveness provided by the leader's subordinates and direct supervisor. Although female leaders were rated as more effective than male leaders overall, a fine-grained analysis of leader–subordinate dyads revealed that the male leaders benefited more than the female leaders from the use of transformational leadership in the leader behavior–leader effectiveness relationship. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

What explains cultural differences in leadership styles? On the agricultural origins of participative and directive leadership

Why do we observe either participative or directive leadership in organizations? I test an evolutionary-informed theory suggesting that organizational leadership is currently less participative (i.e., close supervision, rare delegation) among societies that used intensive forms of agriculture in the past. Intensification caused increased social complexity and skewed power distribution, promoting the emergence of directive leaders and eventually shaping followers' preferences for and perceptions of leadership. Combining evidence, secondary data, and methods developed in economics, anthropology, and applied psychology, I document a negative relationship between traditional agricultural intensity and followers' participative leadership prototypes. I then study the link between traditional agriculture and reliance on delegation to subordinates across firms. I discuss competing hypotheses, explore the interplay between traditional agriculture and organizational-level factors, and show that traditional agricultural intensity does not predict most other leadership prototypes and management practices. Implications for leadership theory–with a focus on evolutionary approaches–are finally discussed.     

Empowering leadership and contextual ambidexterity – The mediating role of committed leadership for continuous improvement

Organisations nowadays try to be ambidextrous, that is, to balance exploitation and exploration, at the level of the organisational unit, or even at the individual level. Recent studies found that important drivers for contextual ambidexterity are a high level of empowerment and an orientation towards continuous improvement (CI) and innovation. It is, therefore, to be expected that empowering leadership and leader commitment to CI are associated with contextual ambidexterity. However, literature about the relationships between empowering leadership, committed leadership for CI and contextual ambidexterity is scant. Based on two separate survey studies, we validated both the relationship between empowering leadership and contextual ambidexterity, and the mediating effect of committed leadership for CI in the organisational unit level and the individual level. The managerial implications of this research is that organisations that want to facilitate contextual ambidexterity should not only empower employees so that they can decide more independently on how to organise their time and make choices when they conduct exploratory activities and when they perform exploitative activities. Management must also act as committed ambassadors for CI, as CI functions as an integration mechanism to create both alignment and adaptability, and hence contextual ambidexterity.     

How do executive search firms increase interest in career opportunities? The role of past interactions

This article explores how executive search consultants stimulate executives’ consideration of career opportunities available at other employers. The study is based on a panel dataset of 3582 executives invited to a job interview by a global executive search firm from January 2005 to May 2009. The results demonstrate that past interactions between executives and the search consultants had a delayed effect on consideration of career opportunities. The results contribute to research on executive careers by identifying past relationships with search consultants as a factor affecting rejection of new career opportunities. They also shed light on the relatively understudied phenomenon of executive search firms.     

The queen bee: A myth? The effect of top-level female leadership on subordinate females

We investigate the effect of female leadership on gender differences in public and private organizations. Female leadership impact was constructed using a quasi-experiment involving mayoral elections, and our research used a sample of 8.3 million organizations distributed over 5600 Brazilian municipalities. Our main results show that when municipalities in which a woman was elected leader (treatment group) are compared with municipalities in which a male was elected leader (control group) there was an increase in the number of top and middle female managers in public organizations. Two aspects contribute to the results: time and command/role model. The time effect is important because our results are obtained with reelected women – in their second term – and the command/role model (the queen bee phenomenon is either small, or non-existent) is important because of the institutional characteristics of public organizations: female leaders (mayor) have much asymmetrical power and decision-making discretion, i.e., she chooses the top managers. These top managers then choose middle managers influenced by female leadership (a role model). We obtained no significant results for private organizations. Our work contributes to the literature on leadership by addressing some specific issues: an empirical investigation with a causal effect between the variables (regression-discontinuity design – a non-parametric estimation), the importance of role models, and how the observed effects are time-dependent. Insofar as public organizations are concerned, the evidence from our large-scale study suggests that the queen bee phenomenon may be a myth; instead, of keeping subordinate women at bay, our results show that women leaders who are afforded much managerial discretion behave in a benevolent manner toward subordinate women. The term “Regal Leader” instead of “Queen Bee” is thus a more appropriate characterization of women in top positions of power.     

When do leaders matter? Ownership,governance and the influence of CEOs on firm performance

Leadership and strategic management research suggests that the extent to which CEOs influence performance largely depends on the presence or absence of certain factors. These factors may include the characteristics of the task at hand, subordinates, the organization itself or the external environment. Among these factors, a fundamental contingency that has received little empirical attention is an organization's ownership and governance structure—that is, who owns and monitors the organization. In this paper, we outline how different ownership and governance structures can present the opportunity for, or limit, leader influence and empirically examine the extent to which CEO effects on financial performance depend on these structures. Examining organizations in the same industry but with different ownership and governance structures, our results suggest that these structures are closely aligned with the degree to which CEOs influence firm performance. Our findings support the notion that leaders matter most when ownership and governance structures correspond with a weak or ambiguous institutional logic. This study contributes new insight into the “opportunity structure” of CEO influence, that is, the organizational factors that shape leader discretion and, hence, condition the CEO's level of influence over firm performance.     

How bad are the effects of bad leaders? A meta-analysis of destructive leadership and its outcomes

While the focus on constructive leadership still dominates leadership research, an increasing number of studies investigate different forms of destructive leadership. This meta-analysis integrates different conceptualizations of destructive leadership and analyzes the relationship between destructive leadership and outcome variables. The search for articles yielded more than 200 studies of which 57 could be included in the meta-analysis. Results indicate the expected negative correlations with positive followers' outcomes and behaviors (e.g., attitudes towards the leader, well-being, and individual performance) and positive correlations with negative outcomes (e.g., turnover intention, resistance towards the leader, counterproductive work behavior). As expected, the highest correlation arises between destructive leadership and attitudes towards the leader. Surprisingly, the next highest correlation was found between destructive leadership and counterproductive work behavior. After discussing the results, an agenda for future research is proposed. Given the negative impact of destructive leadership, more knowledge is especially necessary regarding what triggers destructive leadership.     

Do emotionally perceptive leaders motivate higher employee performance? The moderating role of task interdependence and power distance

Extant emotional intelligence research has examined the relationship between employees' emotional intelligence and their job performance. We developed theory to extend this line of research to the domain of leader–employee relationships. Integrating emotional intelligence research with social exchange theory, we contended that leaders' emotion perceptions enhance employees' job performance. Drawing from social impact theory, we further argued that the strength of this relationship depends upon two contextual variables: within-group task interdependence and power distance. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 350 employee nested in 74 workgroups. Hierarchical linear modeling results supported the hypothesized relationships between leaders' emotion perceptions and employees' job performance, and revealed that this relationship was strengthened by task interdependence and attenuated by power distance.     

What do you owe your team? Survival tips for people who dread teamwork

Team building and teamwork are well entrenched in the American workplace. If you're independent, shy, or short on time, making decisions with a team may be one of the toughest situations you face. Learn how to get along with the rest of the group even if you don't buy in to the team concept. Teamwork may be one of your most useful career skills.     

What do board members in art organizations do? A grounded theory approach

This paper explores the characteristics and activities of board members in art organizations. It describes two case studies within international artists’ residencies in France and Germany. Adopting a grounded theory approach, our study identifies the different characteristics of board members such as friendship, competence and diversity, together with board activities such as controlling, advising, legitimating, helping, exchanging and deciding. The contributions of this research are twofold. First, contrary to most governance literature, the independence of board members and board monitoring roles do not seem to be important issues for the two art organizations involved. Instead, friendship and networking appear to be key factors for the board, helping the organizations to be successful by giving them more chance to survive and grow. Second, as specific board members in the two cases studied, executive directors play a continual role of “governance entrepreneurs,” building and managing various board-related organs to counterbalance the influence of fund providers. In this way, executive directors attempt to satisfy their predominant public fund providers and to help the artists’ residencies survive.     

Revisiting the mediating role of trust in transformational leadership effects: Do different types of trust make a difference?

This study examines the mediating effects of cognitive and affective trust on the relationship between follower perceptions of transformational leadership behavior and their work outcomes. Using data obtained from 318 supervisor–subordinate dyads from a manufacturing organization located in mainland China, structural equation modeling results revealed that affective trust fully mediated the relationships between transformational leadership and the work outcomes of followers, including their affective organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and job performance. In contrast, cognitive trust negatively mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and follower job performance, and had insignificant effects on their affective organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors. These findings highlight the importance of affective trust as a mechanism which translates transformational leadership into positive work outcomes for the organization.     

In the eye of the beholder? An eye-tracking experiment on emergent leadership in team interactions

Integrating evolutionary signaling theory with a social attention approach, we argue that individuals possess a fast, automated mechanism for detecting leadership signals in fellow humans that is reflected in higher visual attention toward emergent leaders compared to non-leaders. To test this notion, we first videotaped meetings of project teams and collected leadership ratings for the team members from three rating sources. Second, we provided 18 naïve observers with 42 brief, muted video clips of the team meetings and analyzed their eye gazing patterns. Observers gazed at emergent leaders more often, and for an average longer duration, than at non-leaders. Gender effects occurred such that male emergent leaders received a higher number of fixations than female emergent leaders. Non-verbal behavior analysis indicated that emergent leaders showed a higher amount of active gestures and less passive facial expressions than non-leaders. We discuss theoretical and methodological directions for emergent leadership research in teams.