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.     

Leader corruption depends on power and testosterone

We used incentivized experimental games to manipulate leader power — the number of followers and the discretion leaders had to enforce their will. Leaders had complete autonomy in deciding payouts to themselves and their followers. Although leaders could make prosocial decisions to benefit the public good they could also abuse their power by invoking antisocial decisions, which reduced the total payouts to the group but increased the leaders' earnings. In Study 1 (N = 478), we found that both amount of followers and discretionary choices independently predicted leader corruption. In Study 2 (N = 240), we examined how power and individual differences (e.g., personality, hormones) affected leader corruption over time; power interacted with endogenous testosterone in predicting corruption, which was highest when leader power and baseline testosterone were both high. Honesty predicted initial level of leader antisocial decisions; however, honesty did not shield leaders from the corruptive effect of power.     

An ACE in the hole: Twin family models for applied behavioral genetics research

Many studies investigate the genetic and environmental influences on traits using twin data and ACE models (A = additive genetic effects, C = shared environment effects, E = unshared environment effects). Unfortunately, relying on twins leads to biased results and limits what researchers can study. We introduce twin models and describe their problems. We show how to solve these problems with data from twins and their families, which allow modeling new effects such as the parent-to-child transmission of traits. We illustrate twin family models using extraversion (extroversion) data from the Virginia 30,000 twin family dataset, giving model specifications and code for the program Mplus. We conclude that if researchers are interested in understanding a broad sense of genetic influences on observed variables, traditional twin models are adequate. However, when data from twins and families are available, twin family models offer better and more interesting estimates of genetic and environmental effects.     

The mediating effects of leader integrity with transparency in communication and work engagement/performance

We examined in a 3-month longitudinal study how leader behavioral integrity relates to individual follower work engagement, and how that relationship, in turn, connects to performance. We hypothesized that ratings of leader behavioral integrity would mediate the relationship between leader transparent communication and follower work engagement, which would also have a positive relationship with performance. We tested our hypotheses using data collected from military cadets (n = 451), who each rated their respective leader. Our findings show that followers who rated their leaders as exhibiting more transparent communication at Time 1, also rated themselves as more engaged in their work role at Time 2 (3 weeks later), and that their perceptions of leader behavioral integrity mediated that relationship. Follower engagement also positively related to third-party ratings of follower performance at Time 3 lagged 3 months. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on leader integrity, authenticity, follower engagement, and performance.     

Transformational leadership and leader moral orientation: Contrasting an ethic of justice and an ethic of care

Previous research on the moral foundations of transformational leadership has focused on a Kohlbergian (1969, 1976) ethic of justice. However, proposed associations between level of justice reasoning and transformational leadership have received only partial support. We reasoned that an ethic of care would be more consistent with the nature of transformational leadership than would be an ethic of justice. Multilevel regression analyses on data obtained from a sample of leaders (N = 55) and followers (N = 391) at a Canadian university supported our predictions. Specifically, leader propensity toward using an ethic of care was significantly, positively related to follower perceptions of transformational (but not transactional) leadership. Leader propensity toward an ethic of justice was significantly, positively related to follower perceptions of transactional (but not transformational) leadership. Conceptual, research, and practical implications are discussed.     

Childhood general cognitive ability predicts leadership role occupancy across life: Evidence from 17,000 cohort study participants

Research in the leadership literature has not yet identified links between childhood general cognitive ability and leadership potential in adulthood. We tested whether early cognitive ability contributed to leadership role occupancy across four decades in a sample of 17,000 working individuals from two representative British cohorts. On average a 1 standard deviation increase in cognitive ability predicted a 6.2 percentage point higher probability of leadership role occupancy. In Study 1, adjusted models showed that 37.3% of high cognitive ability children (+ 1 SD) occupied leadership positions compared to 25.4% of low cognitive ability (− 1 SD) children and this gap was even more pronounced in Study 2 (27.8% vs. 15.1%). Cognitive ability showed a graded association with the number of employees supervised in both studies and educational attainment partially explained the cognitive ability–leadership association. The results suggest that early individual differences in childhood general cognitive ability may profoundly shape trajectories of leadership across working life.     

Leader evaluations after performance feedback: The role of follower mood

Team and organizational failures can negatively impact leadership perceptions, as followers tend to attribute performance outcomes to leadership. The current study explores how follower mood moderates this effect. In two experiments, the first with students (N = 132) and the second with a sample of the working population (N = 229), we show that performance information has a weaker effect on leadership evaluations when the follower is in a positive mood as compared with a negative mood. In addition, we show that this moderation effect holds for performance information about the team as well as the leader. We discuss how these findings extend the cognitive follower-centric perspective on leadership by acknowledging affective influences and explore several counter-intuitive implications of these findings.     

Assessing the spiritual leadership effectiveness: The contribution of follower's self-concept and preliminary tests for moderation of culture and managerial position

This research examines several determinants considered to influence the spiritual leadership (SL) effectiveness, including one motivational mediating factor of follower's self-concepts, and two conditional factors, i.e., culture (as a macro-level factor) and managerial position (as a micro-level factor). The construct of SL was validated using a sample comprising 591 employees from various profitable organizations in two major Chinese societies: China and Taiwan (n = 372; 219). A second sample of 122 military police in the army was also recruited for validation purpose. We integrated the follower's transcendental self-concepts into the existing SL framework, and validated their substantiality to leadership effectiveness. In addition, the results showed that culture differs on the SL effectiveness, while position hierarchy (managerial vs. non-managerial positions) does not moderate between the intrinsic motivations of SL and in-role/extra-role performance.     

How being rooted in the past can shape the future: The role of social identity continuity in the wish for a strong leader

Why do people support strong leaders? We examined the link between social identity continuity – the sense that a nation’s past, present, and future are interconnected – and the wish for a strong national leader. Drawing on a multi-country data set (Study 1: N = 6112) and a sample from Australia (Study 2: N = 621), Studies 1 and 2 showed that identity continuity was related to increased desire for a strong leader. Studies 3a (UK sample; N = 293) and 3b (US sample; N = 294) further showed that desired (not perceived) identity continuity was related to wish for a strong leader, suggesting that the key ingredient is the desire for continuity regardless of the perceived current levels of continuity. These findings suggest that people may want to preserve their national identity as a link to the past to face present and future challenges, even if it means forgoing democratic leadership.     

Transformational leadership and childrens' aggression in team settings: A short-term longitudinal study

Social learning theory posits that one crucial way individuals learn how to behave is by observing and modeling the behavior of salient others. We conducted a short-term longitudinal study using multisource data on 183 teenaged ice hockey players (M age = 13.39 years) in 16 hockey teams to test the effects of 3 potentially salient leadership influences (team coaches, team players, and parents) on players' on-ice aggression. We tested a cross-level mediated model in which player aggression (penalty minutes) as measured by referees was the criterion variable. After controlling for prior levels of player aggression, team-level aggression mediated the relationship between team-level coach transformational leadership and player aggression. Parents' transformational leadership did not influence player aggression when assessed simultaneously with team-level coach transformational leadership. Consistent with social learning theory, the findings suggest that transformational leaders model prosocial behavior for followers.     

Emergent Patterns of Switching Behaviors and Intercultural Communication Styles of Global Virtual Teams During Distributed Decision Making

The purpose of this study is to explain the distinctive patterns of intercultural communication styles exhibited during the distributed decision making process in global virtual teams (GVTs). The study applied Hall's (1976) high context vs. low context theoretical lens to a corpus of archival online messages (n = 1600 emails) generated by the United Nation World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Civil Society. By using email as a primary medium for global collaboration, the GVT comprising of Civil Society participants was engaged in decision-making processes among different teams. The goal is to bring multi-stakeholders together in developing policy on the roles and utility of information communication technology for development of the Information Society. Our findings show that culture and the cultural values to which team members subscribe do influence the way decisions are made and communicated in three distinct phases—problem identification, proposal making and solutions. In addition, the results found evidence of an interesting behavioral pattern we call “switching,” in which an individual's communication style changes depending on purpose, roles, situation, and people—another form of context-based mode of online communicative behavior. This evidence of switching behavior is crucial because it shows that intercultural communication styles are fluid rather than fixed.     

A new approach to analyzing the Achilles' heel of multisource feedback programs: Can we really trust ratings of leaders at the group level of analysis?

This research addresses the Achilles’ heel of all multi-source leadership feedback programs regardless of whether they use 360°, 270°, or 180° ratings. Namely, should all feedback be universally aggregated by feedback groups and reported to respondents? A sample of raters from the Center for Creative Leadership (N = 15,500 including subordinates, peers, and others) was grouped to align with each raters’ matching focal subject (J = 1,550). Two scales from CCL’s Benchmarks instrument (Building and Mending Relationships and Career Management) were used to: (1) predict a derailment factor (Problems with Interpersonal Relationships) and (2) determine the operative level of analysis and its aggregation characteristics using Within and Between Analysis (WABA). In many cases, the variables under consideration did not aggregate optimally. Using a technique based upon each group’s coefficient of variation as a measure of internal consensus, between 3% and 25% of groups should not have their averages reported. Alternative approaches are discussed.     

Crisis leadership: A review and future research agenda

The past few decades have witnessed numerous crises that have drawn increasing attention to the study of crisis leadership. However, research in this field remains fragmented and existing reviews often adopt a subjective approach to identify and synthesize the findings of relevant articles. These limitations make it difficult for scholars to appreciate the progress made in the literature, to derive comprehensive and objective insights, and to forge a path ahead. This study synthesizes theoretical insights and empirical findings in the crisis leadership literature using bibliometric techniques. We first review the intellectual structure of the crisis leadership literature by conducting co-citation and bibliographic coupling analyses. We then map the major conceptual themes in the crisis leadership literature via a co-word analysis. To supplement the findings of the bibliometric analyses, we review the key methodological approaches adopted by crisis leadership researchers. Based on the integrative insights, we propose a research agenda highlighting opportunities for theoretical and methodological advancements in crisis leadership research.     

Organizational cynicism: Spillover effects on supervisor–subordinate relationships and performance

Organizational cynicism has grown in contemporary Western organizations. However, its impact on interpersonal relationships and consequently on organizational functioning remains understudied. The present study addresses these gaps by: a) exploring the spillover effect of organizational cynicism on supervisor–subordinate relationships, and b) examining if the spillover effect extends to employee performance. Specifically, it examines if affective commitment to the supervisor mediates the relationship between the PSS × organizational cynicism interaction effect and performance (i.e., mediated-moderation). Data were collected from both employees and supervisors (N = 274) from 45 organizations. Our results generally support our hypotheses. This study provides evidence that organizational cynicism interferes in the relationship employees develop with their supervisors, with consequences to performance. This study opens new avenues for research on organizational cynicism and carries implications for theory and practice.     

“To thine own self be true”: The effects of enactment and life storytelling on perceived leader authenticity

Although researchers have emphasized the importance of antecedents to the construct of authentic leadership, very little empirical research exists to confirm this notion. Combining theoretical approaches from dramaturgy and narrative research, we were able to identify possible antecedents that help followers perceive a leader's authenticity. Using two online experimental designs, we analyzed the concept of perceived leader authenticity. Specifically, we examined how a leader's enactment—that is, a leader's physical actions—(Study 1, n = 105) and a combination of leader enactment and life storytelling (Study 2, n = 334) influenced followers' perceptions of the leader's authenticity, and how this may impact leadership outcomes. The results of these studies, in which leader enactment in the context of authentic leadership was operationalized for the first time, indicate that leader enactment predicts perceived leader authenticity. Life storytelling, however, only partially predicted followers' perceptions of the leader's authenticity. Findings further revealed that followers' trust in the leader and positive emotions are outcomes of perceived leader authenticity. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

A follower-centric approach to the vision integration process

Leaders increasingly understand the importance of involving followers in the vision implementation process. Viewing vision as a guiding framework that may or may not be adopted by followers throughout the organization, we test a model of the leader–follower communication processes involved in linking vision with follower work behaviors and decisions. Using a cross-sectional research design, we examine the basic relationships in a hypothesized model of the vision integration process. Employees from a health maintenance organization (HMO) (N = 340) completed surveys concerning leader–follower communication, perceptions of the company's vision, and its integration into their work behaviors. Not surprisingly, leader–follower communication regarding vision is crucial. More importantly, how the vision is understood and integrated by followers into work behaviors and decisions significantly predicts commitment, job satisfaction, and supervisory ratings of performance. Based on these findings, a more follower-centered conceptualization of vision is offered.     

Ethical leadership and follower organizational deviance: The moderating role of follower moral attentiveness

The literature on ethical leadership has focused primarily on the way ethical leaders influence follower moral judgment and behavior. It has overlooked that follower responses to ethical leaders may differ depending on the attention they pay to the moral aspects of leadership. In the present research, we introduce moral attentiveness as an important moderator for the relationship between ethical leadership and unethical employee behavior. In a multisource field study (N = 90), we confirm our hypothesis that morally attentive followers respond with more deviance to unethical leaders. An experimental study (N = 96) replicates the finding. Our paper extends the current leader-focused literature by examining how follower moral attentiveness determines the response of followers to ethical or unethical leadership.     

The enactment of plural leadership in a health and social care network: The influence of institutional context

In this article we employ developments in social network analysis (SNA), specifically the p* model, to examine the enactment of plural leadership within, and across, hierarchical levels and organizational boundaries (Denis et al., 2012). Drawing on an empirical study of an inter-professional, inter-organizational network (number of nodes = 23) that delivers health and social care, we address two research gaps: (i) the effect of power relations, derived from professional hierarchy, upon spread of plural leadership; and (ii) the effect of formal leadership, derived from managerial accountability, in channeling the spread of plural leadership for coherent strategic effect. We show that, in a routine situation, the network is characterized by generalized leadership exchanges. In this situation, professional hierarchy and managerial accountability are not visible, nor is channeling of plural leadership by the formal leader. In a non-routine situation, when a disruptive event occurs, the network is characterized by restricted exchange. In this situation, professional hierarchy and managerial accountability are evident, and a formal leader channels plural leadership.     

Does emotional intelligence as ability predict transformational leadership? A multilevel approach

This study assesses to what extent emotional intelligence as ability (EI) can predict transformational leadership. Norwegian executives (N = 104) completed measures of personality (NEO PI-R) and EI (MSCEIT), and were rated on transformational leadership (MLQ 5X) by subordinates (N = 459). This study improves upon previous studies in three ways: First, because the validity and reliability of the scores from MSCEIT has been questioned, an alternative set of scales from MSCEIT were included, which provide reliable and interpretable scores (Føllesdal & Hagtvet, 2009). Second, in addition to personality, general mental ability (GMA) was controlled for by utilizing Monte Carlo studies. Third, a multilevel approach was used to analyze the scores, due to their hierarchical structure. Neither the four branch scores, nor the Total EI score from MSCEIT predicted transformational leadership. A suppression effect was found, however, among two subscales from Perceiving Emotions. The validity of scores from MSCEIT is questioned.     

Empowering leadership: Construct clarification,conceptualization, and validation of a new scale

In this paper we discuss key aspects of empowering leadership as a basis for conceptualizing and operationalizing the construct. The conceptualization resulted in eight behavioral manifestations arranged within three influence processes, which were investigated in a sample of 317 subordinates in Study 1. The results supported the validity and reliability of a two-dimensional, 18-item instrument, labeled the Empowering Leadership Scale (ELS). In Study 2 (N = 215) and Study 3 (N = 831) the factor structure of ELS was cross-validated in two independent samples from different work settings. Preliminary concurrent validation in Studies 1 and 2 found that ELS had a positive relationship to several subordinate variables, among others self-leadership and psychological empowerment. In Study 3 ELS was compared with scales measuring leader–member exchange (LMX) and transformational leadership. Discriminant validity was supported, and moreover, ELS showed incremental validity beyond LMX and transformational leadership when predicting psychological empowerment.