Predicting followers' preferences for charismatic leadership: the influence of follower values and personality

Existing research on charismatic leadership focuses primarily on the traits and behaviors of charismatic leaders and the effects of charismatic leaders on their followers. One issue that has been neglected, and others, is the disposition of the followers who form charismatic relationships with their leaders. To investigate this topic, we conducted a laboratory study in which participants' values and personality dimensions were used to predict participants' preferences for charismatic leadership vs. two other leadership styles: relationship-oriented and task-oriented leadership. The results showed that values and personality were useful in predicting leadership preferences. More research is needed to gain further insights into the active role of followers in the formation of charismatic relationships.     

The influence of leader core self-evaluation on follower reports of transformational leadership

The role of leader core self-evaluations (CSE) was investigated for its influence on follower perceptions of transformational leadership (TFL) dimensions in a sample of 464 employees and 150 leaders from three Chinese organizations. As hypothesized, after controlling for leaders' and followers' demographic variables and modeling fixed-effects to account for the potential impact of omitted variables, we found that leader CSE was significantly and positively related to follower perception of leader TFL. The result enhances the understanding of TFL antecedents.     

Reconsidering the accuracy of follower leadership ratings

Accurate behavioral measurement is essential to developing a science of leadership, yet accurate measurement has remained elusive. The use of follower reports of leader behavior creates challenges given that a large body of basic and applied research suggests that behavioral ratings reflect not only recall of actual behaviors, but also inferences based on semantic memory, which may vary among individuals. In this paper, we examine several explanations for rater effects that are associated with follower individual differences, contextual factors, and even research methods, such as the type of measure used, that may bias ratings of leader behavior. We also develop a conceptual model to illustrate these processes. Finally, we offer potential solutions to increase accuracy in follower reports of leader behavior.     

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.     

Charismatic leadership: Eliciting and channeling follower emotions

Research on charismatic leadership has been criticized for the ambiguity of its central construct. Attempts to define and measure charisma have frequently treated it as a complex construct consisting of multiple components. However, little work has been done to develop a theoretical model that offers a parsimonious rationale explaining why certain leadership attributes are considered “charismatic” while others are not, or how these attributes combine to produce charismatic effects. Addressing these issues, we present a model that situates emotion as the primary variable in the charismatic process. We use recent research on the moral emotions to frame a theory of followership-relevant emotions (FREs) that describes how leaders use emotions such as compassion, admiration, and anger to compel their followers to act. We then discuss the Elicit-Channel (EC) model of charismatic leadership, positing that the charismatic relationship is a five-step, cyclical process. In the EC model, leaders elicit highly motivating emotions from their followers and then channel those emotions to produce action that, if successful, results in outcomes such as positive affect and trust. These outcomes then enable the leader to continue the cycle, eliciting emotion once more. We conclude by offering a research agenda, addressing potential methodological concerns, and discussing future directions.     

Ethical leadership and follower voice and performance: The role of follower identifications and entity morality beliefs

Previous studies have established the relationship between ethical leadership and a variety of positive follower outcomes. Follower organizational identification has been found to mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and follower job performance. In this research, we incorporate a second distinct and theoretically important type of social identification process, relational identification with the leader, along with organizational identification, and examine their mediating effects on follower performance and voice outcomes. Further, we bring the implicit theory of morality to the behavioral ethics literature and examine follower morality beliefs as a moderator. Using a Romanian sample of 302 followers under the supervision of 27 leaders, we found that ethical leadership has an indirect effect on follower job performance and voice (through the mediating mechanisms of both organizational and relational identifications) and that these relationships are stronger for followers who held the implicit theory that a person's moral character is fixed.     

Transformational leadership and follower creativity: The mediating role of follower relational identification and the moderating role of leader creativity expectations

We examined follower relational identification with the leader as a mediator and follower perceptions of leader creativity expectations as a moderator in the relationship between transformational leadership and follower creativity. Using a sample of 420 leader–follower dyads from an energy company in mainland China, we found that follower relational identification with the leader mediates the transformational leadership–follower creativity relationship, and this mediating relationship is conditional on the moderator variable of follower perceptions of leader creativity expectations for the path from follower relational identification to follower creativity. These results contribute to the literature by clarifying why (through relational identification) and when (high creativity expectations set by the leader) transformational leadership is positively related to follower creativity.     

The influence of follower mood on leader mood and task performance: An affective,follower-centric perspective of leadership

Based on the notion that leadership involves affective exchange (Dasborough, Ashkanasy, Tee & Tse, 2009), we hypothesize that a leader's mood and task performance can be determined in part by follower mood displays. In two laboratory experiments, leaders supervised teams where the team members were confederates instructed to display positive or negative moods. Results were that followers' mood influenced leader mood and task performance. Moreover, leaders of positive mood followers were judged to have performed more effectively and expediently than leaders of followers who expressed negative mood states. We replicated these findings in Study 2 and found further that leaders high on neuroticism performed less effectively than their low neuroticism counterparts when interacting with negative-mood followers. Collectively, by demonstrating that follower moods influence leader affect and behaviors, our studies provide support for a core element of the Dasborough et al. (2009) reciprocal affect theory of leadership.     

The effect of authentic transformational leadership on follower and group ethics

We propose a theoretical model to examine how authentic transformational leadership influences follower individual and group ethical decision making. We investigate how follower moral identity and moral emotions mediate the effect of authentic transformational leadership on follower authentic moral action. Furthermore, we explore how authentic transformational leadership develops group ethical climate, which in turn contributes to enhancing group ethics and to developing follower moral identity and moral emotions. Future research and practical implications are discussed.     

A multilevel study of transformational leadership,identification, and follower outcomes

Using a sample from a large diversified company, this study examines the influence processes of transformational leadership (TFL) at both the individual and group levels concurrently and explores cross-level relationships. Results showed that, at the individual level, followers' personal identification with the leader mediated the effects of individual-focused TFL behavior on individual performance and empowerment. At the group level, group identification mediated the effect of group-focused TFL behavior on collective efficacy. Results also supported two cross-level effects from the group level to the individual level. The paper addresses the implications for leaders of motivating individuals and teams, at the same time.     

The relationship between transformational leadership and follower sickness absence: the role of presenteeism

The impact of transformational leaders on employee health and well-being has received much attention. Less research has focused on the relationships between transformational leaders and followers’ sickness absenteeism. Transformational leaders promote a group climate that may lead to absenteeism, especially among vulnerable employees (those with high levels of presenteeism). In the present study we examined the relationships between presenteeism, group-level transformational leadership and sickness absence rates in a three-year longitudinal study of postal workers and their leaders in Denmark (N?=?155). Group-level transformational leadership in year 1 predicted sickness absenteeism in year 2, but not in year 3. In examining conditions under which transformational leadership may be linked to higher levels of sickness absenteeism, we found that presenteeism in year 1 moderated the link between transformational leadership in year 1 and sickness absenteeism in year 3, such that followers working in groups with a transformational leader and who were high in presenteeism reported higher levels of sickness absenteeism. Our results suggest a complex picture of the relationship between transformational leadership and sickness absenteeism; transformational leaders may promote self-sacrifice of vulnerable followers by leading them to go to work while ill, leading to increased risks of sickness absence in the long term.     

A process model of self-regulation and leadership: How attentional resource capacity and negative emotions influence constructive and destructive leadership

This study proposes a process model of the antecedents of both constructive and destructive leadership. As task difficulty increases, a leader's limited attentional resource capacity may become overwhelmed by the experience of high levels of negative emotions, resulting in self-regulation impairment and destructive leadership. When task difficulty is low, or when negative emotions do not overwhelm attentional resource capacity, then self-regulation is effective, giving rise to constructive leadership. We test our model with 161 leaders in the field and find good support for our model in the prediction of transformational leadership and abusive supervision as specific examples of constructive and destructive leadership.     

How leader displays of happiness and sadness influence follower performance: Emotional contagion and creative versus analytical performance

Previous studies have found mixed results regarding the influence of positive and negative leader affect on follower performance. We propose that both leader happiness and leader sadness can be beneficial for follower performance contingent on whether the task concerns creative or analytical performance. This proposition was put to the test in two experiments in which leader affective display was manipulated and the performance of (student) participants was assessed. The results supported our hypothesis that a leader's displays of happiness enhance follower creative performance, whereas a leader's displays of sadness enhance follower analytical performance. Contrasting these findings with evidence for a subjective rating of leadership effectiveness, in line with an implicit leadership theory interpretation, leaders were perceived as more effective when displaying happiness rather than sadness irrespective of task type. The second study showed that the effects of leader affective displays on followers' creative performance and perceived leadership effectiveness are mediated by follower positive affect, indicating that emotional contagion partly underlies these effects.     

How leadership matters: The effects of leaders' alignment on strategy implementation

Research has confirmed that leader behavior influences group and organizational behavior, but we know less about how senior leaders ensure that group and organizational members implement their decisions. Most organizations have multiple layers of leaders, implying that any single leader does not lead in isolation. We focused on how the consistency of leadership effectiveness across hierarchical levels influenced the implementation of a strategic initiative in a large health care system. We found that it was only when leaders' effectiveness at different levels was considered in the aggregate that significant performance improvement occurred. We discuss the implications of these findings for leadership research, specifically, that leaders at various levels should be considered collectively to understand how leadership influences employee performance.     

Followership,leadership and social influence

Traditional research in leadership has largely relegated followers to the role of passive recipients or, at best, moderators of leader influence and behaviors. However, recent work in the area of followership has begun shifting this focus and emphasizing the possibility that followers actively have an influence over leaders, in particular leader behavior. This paper revisits traditional areas of the leadership literature and builds on the emerging followership literature to reintroduce followers as part of the social context of leaders. In an attempt to build theoretical rationales for how followers influence leader behavior we draw on the social influence (e.g., Social Impact Theory, Latane, 1981) and the power literature to suggest individual (e.g., strength and immediacy of followers) and group level (e.g., number of followers and unity of the group) characteristics that influence leader behaviors as a function of a leader's informational and effect dependence on followers.     

Embedded cultural values and international transaction cost advantages

Culturally embedded differences in self-interested behavior and perceptions of trust violate the universal assumption of moral hazard held by transaction cost economic theorists. A model of transaction cost advantage is derived and propositions developed using the cultural value diversity literature to test the universal assumptions of transaction cost economics.     

Culture as a consequence: A multi-level multivariate meta-analysis of the effects of individual and country characteristics on work-related cultural values

Culture as a consequence is a neglected topic. Addressing this, we explore what factors are related to and potentially shape culture, what explains cultural variations within countries, and what the relationship is between cultural values at the individual and national levels. To answer these questions, we use a multi-level multivariate meta-analysis of 508 studies. The findings indicate that national and individual cultural values may be determined by the micro characteristics of age, gender, education, and socio-economic status as well as the macro characteristics of wealth and freedom. This provides a basis for explaining cultural change, both at the individual and national levels. Also, up to 90% of the variance in cultural values is found to reside within countries, stressing that national averages poorly represent specific individuals.     

The relational nature of leadership identity construction: How and when it influences perceived leadership and decision-making

This paper empirically tests leadership identity construction theory (DeRue & Ashford, 2010), conceptually framing claiming and granting leadership as a negotiated process that influences leadership perceptions and decision-making in interdependent contexts. In Study 1a, an avatar video-based experimental vignette (replicated in Study 1b with a non-video scenario), we found that when a team member accepted an actor's leadership claim, observers' leadership ratings of the actor increased, whereas when the team member rejected the claim, observers' leadership ratings of the fellow team member increased. However, when an actor granted leadership, the fellow team member's response did not influence leadership ratings. Study 2 extended the conceptual model by identifying how claiming and granting influence leadership perceptions – through perceived competence – and when claiming and granting exert greatest influence, finding that women observers vary more in their responses to claiming and granting. The negotiated relational leader identity process ultimately influenced observer decision-making.     

Innovation, cultural values, and the management of change in British hospitals

This paper describes the results of a study of innovation in the management teams of 27 UK hospitals. It is argued that the content of innovations provides an accurate representation of the underlying cultural values of the management teams, and the cultural values which they seek to purvey within the wider organizational settings. The authors propose that values in action (as opposed to espoused values) are manifest in the range of innovations introduced by top management within organizations. Using a typology of organizational culture, they categorize the innovations introduced by the management teams, in order to map their underlying cultural values. The results indicate predominant orientations of hospital management teams towards rational goal and hierarchical values in the current context of health care in Britain. Internal climate and service innovations were relatively infrequent, suggesting that the hospitals were dominated by management concern for control rather than flexibility. The costs of such cultural strategies in health service settings are discussed.