“License to Fail”: Goal definition, leader group prototypicality, and perceptions of leadership effectiveness after leader failure

Daily uncertainty may overshadow the role of perceived manager effectiveness on daily performance via experienced daily positive affect: A multilevel study

OBJECTIVES

In this study, we expand on the existing work on daily performance by focusing on (1) within-person fluctuation in perceived manager effectiveness in relation to daily positive affective experiences and daily performance and (2) between-person fluctuations in uncertainty as a relevant boundary condition of these relationships.

METHODS

Multilevel data from 101 managers (1,010 measurement occasions) were used to test the hypotheses.

RESULTS

The results showed that fluctuations in the perception of a manager's effectiveness related positively to daily positive affective experiences, and this relationship was moderated by the team member's uncertainty levels in such a way that perceived uncertainty buffered the positive effect of leadership effectiveness on positive affective experiences. Further, the findings evidenced a positive association between daily positive affective experiences and daily performance. Finally, results showed a significant indirect effect from perceived manager's effectiveness to daily fluctuations in performance via daily fluctuations in positive affective experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

Perceived manager's effectiveness made employees feel more positive affective experiences, which contributed to their daily performance. However, uncertainty overshadows the influence of a manager's effectiveness on their workers' positive affective experiences. We discuss implications for theory and practice.

Incumbency and self-uncertainty: when prototypical leaders lose their advantage

Research on how uncertainty affects the preference for prototypical over non-prototypical leaders has produced mixed results. To understand these discrepancies, two studies explored leader status (prospective versus incumbent) as a potential moderator. Participants reported levels of self-uncertainty (Study 1) or were primed with high versus low self-uncertainty (Study 2) before evaluating a prototypical or non-prototypical leadership candidate who was incumbent or prospective. For incumbent candidates, prototypicality predicted more favorable evaluations under low self-uncertainty, but this relationship was weakened under high self-uncertainty. For prospective candidates, prototypicality predicted more favorable evaluations under high self-uncertainty, but this relationship was weakened under low self-uncertainty.

Identity leadership and adherence to COVID-19 safety guidance in hospital settings

COVID-19 presents unique and complex challenges to the Scottish National Health Service (NHS). As COVID-19 preventative measures are effective at reducing disease spread, promoting staff adherence in high-risk workplaces is vital. The present research explored the role of identity leadership on (a) staff's appraisals of leadership and (b) staff's adherence to and attitudes towards COVID-19 guidance. Semi-structured interviews (N = 25) were conducted with NHS staff across two Scottish hospitals. Using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, two over-arching themes were generated: leadership presence and approachable leadership who act on group concerns, where both created positive appraisals of leadership and were seen to facilitate adherence. Guidance from present leaders was perceived as both practical and applicable. Approachable leaders were viewed to facilitate information sharing, clarify guidance, and allow staff to raise concerns. Leaders who were seen to act on group concerns provided resources or updated guidance to promote adherence. The present study provides theoretical and practical advancements to (a) expand the known role of identity leadership in promoting safety in workplaces and (b) facilitate routes for adherence to safety guidance beyond COVID-19.

Do Chameleons Lead Better? A Meta-Analysis of the Self-Monitoring and Leadership Relationship

The relationship between self-monitoring and leadership has been debated. We attempt to resolve this debate through a meta-analysis (N = 9,029 across 55 samples). Since this is the first meta-analysis that focuses on this relationship, we were able to study both focal constructs at a granular level. As hypothesized, self-monitoring is positively associated with leadership emergence and leadership effectiveness. Whereas self-monitoring is positively related to managerial leadership, its relationship with transactional leadership is non-significant. Contrary to our prediction that self-monitoring is negatively related to authentic leadership and to transformational leadership, we found positive relationships. Importantly, the relationship between self-monitoring and leadership variables is typically non-significant when the latter is measured by subordinate ratings. This casts doubt on the general finding that self-monitoring is positively related to leadership. Also, the relationships significantly differ when self-monitoring was measured by different scales. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

An intersectional lens on young leaders: bias toward young women and young men in leadership positions

Research has recognized age biases against young leaders, yet understanding of how gender, the most frequently studied demographic leader characteristic, influences this bias remains limited. In this study, we examine the gender-specific age bias toward young female and young male leaders through an intersectional lens. By integrating intersectionality theory with insights on status beliefs associated with age and gender, we test whether young female and male leaders face an interactive rather than an additive form of bias. We conducted two preregistered experimental studies (N1 = 918 and N2 = 985), where participants evaluated leaders based on age, gender, or a combination of both. Our analysis reveals a negative age bias in leader status ascriptions toward young leaders compared to middle-aged and older leaders. This bias persists when gender information is added, as demonstrated in both intersectional categories of young female and young male leaders. This bias pattern does not extend to middle-aged or older female and male leaders, thereby supporting the age bias against young leaders specifically. Interestingly, we also examined whether social dominance orientation strengthens the bias against young (male) leaders, but our results (reported in the SOM) are not as hypothesized. In sum, our results emphasize the importance of young age as a crucial demographic characteristic in leadership perceptions that can even overshadow the role of gender.

The roles of social norms and leadership in health communication in the context of COVID-19

The global struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted for almost three years. Although national and local leaders have often called on the public to comply with preventive measures through health communication, large sections of society sometimes violated precautions and did not adequately follow these calls. We propose that social norms and leaders' identity entrepreneurship characteristics could be essential in effective health communication. In line with this notion, we investigated the effects of social norm types and leadership on complying with preventive measures, the intention to be vaccinated, and prosocial behavioral tendency through a high-powered experiment that focused on three factors: leadership quality (presence/lack of entrepreneurship), descriptive norm (supportive/obstructive), and injunctive norm (supportive/obstructive). Results showed that when support for injunctive and descriptive norms was present, people tended to more readily adhere to preventive measures, get vaccinated, and engage in prosocial behavior. There was also a significant effect of the interaction between descriptive and injunctive norms on compliance with preventive measures. The compliance level was highest when both norm types were supportive and lowest when both were obstructive. The effect decreased in the discrepant norms condition, where one type of norm was supportive and the other obstructive. There is also a significant interaction between leadership and the descriptive norm, indicating that a combination of an entrepreneur leader and a supportive descriptive norm increases compliance with the preventive measure. We discussed the role of leadership and social norms in effective health communication.

Aspirational leaders help us change: Ingroup prototypicality enables effective group psychotherapy leadership

OBJECTIVES

Research suggests that leaders are effective when they are ingroup prototypical (represent the identity of the group they seek to lead). However, it is unclear whether leaders should represent the group's current identity ("who we are") or aspired identity ("who we want to be"). This study investigated which of these forms of prototypicality best predicted leadership effectiveness in group psychotherapy.

DESIGN

Longitudinal study.

METHODS

519 questionnaire responses were obtained from 112 women attending a four-session body acceptance program. Focal measures included participant ratings of how often they thought their psychotherapy leaders and fellow group members would (a) engage in dieting thoughts and behaviours and (b) approve of dieting. Given the program's body acceptance focus, leader prototypicality was conceptualized as the difference between participants' perceptions of how often their leaders, versus group members, would diet at the start of therapy. Leadership effectiveness was conceptualized as reductions in perceived group approval of dieting across therapy. Two therapeutic outcomes were considered: body satisfaction and dieting intentions.

RESULTS

A mixed-effects repeated measures analysis indicated that group approval of dieting decreased more rapidly when participants perceived their leaders to be aspirational (thought that group leaders dieted less frequently than group members) than when they perceived them to be exemplary (thought that group leaders dieted as frequently as group members). Changes in group approval of dieting mediated the relationship between leader prototypicality and improved therapeutic outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that group psychotherapy leaders may increase their effectiveness by striving to embody their group's aspired identity.

Investigating the reorientation in manufacturing firms through a dynamic of strategic shift: An exploratory study

BACKGROUND: In order to gain a competitive advantage or survive, organizations need to reorient themselves once in a while, and in distress tend to rely on turnaround strategies. The organization must ensure that the turnaround strategy implemented is effective. OBJECTIVE: This study explores and investigates the implementation of turnaround strategies during a crisis by manufacturing firms with the help of a conceptual model combining turnaround strategies and McKinsey’s 7s framework as the mediating variables. METHODS: A questionnaire comprising 35 questions was circulated amongst the employees of various manufacturing firms operating in India and 230 data samples were collected. RESULTS: The findings of this study indicate that manufacturing firms tend to implement turnaround strategies in the form of Operational, Financial, Leadership, Structural and Strategic methods for their survival and reorientation. Additionally, turnaround strategies and strategic reorientation variables of the McKinsey 7s framework showed a significant relationship through a set of Hard S and Soft S.

Do we need a strong captain to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic? Social identification, conspiracy theory beliefs, and the wish for a strong leader

Introduction

In times of great uncertainty and hardship, calls for a strong leader tend to arise. The present study delved into this issue by examining possible sociopsychological antecedents of the wish for a strong leader during the COVID-19 crisis.

Methods

We examined the role of social identification, belief in conspiracy theories related to COVID-19, and trust in various relevant social actors in a sample of 350 Italian citizens.

Results

Structural equation modeling analyses showed that identification with Italians was related to a lower wish for a strong leader through the mediation of trust. Identification with Europeans had a direct and negative association with the wish for a strong leader. Finally, greater endorsement of conspiracy beliefs was related to a greater wish for a strong leader, directly and through diminished trust.

Discussion

These findings suggest that belief in conspiracy theories might drive individuals to depart from democratic principles, whereas relying on meaningful social identities can effectively contrast possible authoritarian turns brought about by a global societal crisis, such as the coronavirus outbreak.

I am one of you! Team prototypicality as a facilitator for female leaders

In the present study, we complement role congruity theory with insights from the Social Identity Model of Leadership. We propose that especially female leaders benefit from team prototypicality, i.e., being representative of the group they are leading. We assume that team prototypicality shifts the comparative frame away from higher-order categories like gender and leader roles to more concrete team-related properties and thereby reduces disadvantages for female leader that stem from the incongruity between the leader role and the female gender role stereotypes. Further, this effect should affect both (female) leaders themselves and their perception by their followers. Building on previous research, we predict, first, lower authentic leadership behavior for female than male leaders. Second, that team prototypicality positively relates to authentic leadership and trust in leader. Third, that team prototypicality has stronger relations to authentic leadership and trust in leader for female compared to male leaders. We tested assumptions in a randomized online experiment (Study 1, N = 315) and a cross-sectional survey study (Study 2, N = 300). We did not find consistent support for the assumed gender differences in authentic leadership. But our results (both in manifest and in latent analyses) show that team prototypicality—both self-perceived (Study 1) and as perceived by employees (Study 2)—is related to more authentic leadership and more trust in leader (Study 2) and that these relations are stronger for female than for male leaders. Furthermore, we tested in Study 2 an extended model including follower’s job satisfaction as the final follower outcome affected via team prototypicality, leader gender, authentic leadership, and trust in leader. Thereby, we found that team prototypicality has direct and indirect effects on job satisfaction as carried through authentic leadership and trust in leader, respectively. Together, the results of both studies support our assumptions and show that female leaders can reduce role incongruity barriers through high team prototypicality. Implications for future research and practical implications of these results for gender equality are discussed.

Who Are We If We Do Not Know Who Our Leader Is? Perceptions of Leaders’ Prototypicality Affects Followers’ Self-Prototypicality and Uncertainty

Leaders define group identities and people turn to leaders to understand their groups in a broader social context and their own places within them. When a leader loses status, people may become uncertain of the group identity and where they stand in relation to that group’s values and idealistic attributes. We predicted that Republicans would view President Trump as less prototypical of the party from pre- to postelection, which would negatively predict their own fit within the party and, in turn, positively predict self-uncertainty. We tested these predictions with two different studies conducted before and after the 2020 American Presidential election (total N = 762). Postelection, Republicans had reduced perceptions of their leader’s prototypicality compared with Democrats, which related to reduced self-prototypicality perceptions and increased uncertainty. Postelection, the losing leader’s identity as an ideal group member is questioned, which may affect how followers view their own prototypical status, prompting uncertainty.

When timing is key: How autocratic and democratic leadership relate to follower trust in emergency contexts

In emergency contexts, leaders’ ability to develop others’ trust in them is critical to leadership effectiveness. By integrating functional leadership and team process theories, we argue that democratic and autocratic leadership can create trust in the leader depending on the performance phase of the action team. We further argue that action and transition phases produce different task demands for leadership behavior to enhance trust in the leader, and different leader characteristics (i.e., leader benevolence and leader ability) mediate these effects. The results of a scenario experiment (N = 125) and field survey (N = 165) among firefighters revealed that autocratic rather than democratic leadership elevates trust in the leader during the action phase by increasing leader ability. In contrast, democratic rather than autocratic leadership enhances trust in the leader during the transition phase by elevating leader benevolence. These findings highlight the importance of leader characteristics in emergencies, demonstrating the value of mixing autocratic and democratic leadership behaviors across different team performance phases to build trust in the leader.

Not "My" crisis: Social identity and followers' crisis responses to COVID-19

Operationalizing social group identification as political partisanship, we examine followers' (i.e., US residents') affective experiences and behavioral responses during the initial COVID-19 outbreak in the United States (March to May 2020). In Study 1, we conducted content analyses on major news outlets' coverage of COVID-19 (N = 4319) to examine media polarization and how it plays a role in shaping followers' perceptions of the pandemic and leadership. News outlets trusted by Republicans portrayed US President Donald Trump as more effective, conveyed a stronger sense of certainty with less negative affective tone, and had a lower emphasis on COVID-19 prevention compared to outlets trusted by Democrats. We then conducted a field survey study (Study 2; N = 214) and found that Republicans perceived Trump as more effective, experienced higher positive affect, and engaged in less COVID-19 preventive behavior compared to Democrats. Using a longitudinal survey design in Study 3 (N = 251), we examined how emotional responses evolved in parallel with the pandemic and found further support for Study 2 findings. Collectively, our findings provide insight into the process of leadership from a social identity perspective during times of crisis, illustrating how social identity can inhibit mobilization of united efforts. The findings have implications for leadership of subgroup divides in different organizational and crisis contexts.

Leader Trait Self-control and Follower Trust in High-Reliability Contexts: The Mediating Role of Met Expectations in Firefighting

Drawing from the theory of met expectations, this study aims to create new knowledge on the antecedents of follower trust in leaders in the context of high-reliability organizations. We hypothesize that highly self-controlled leaders instill more trust than leaders with less self-control, as the former tend to meet follower expectations. This work combines data from a field survey ( N = 256) and a multi-wave field study ( N = 106), using samples of professional firefighters to support our hypotheses that met follower expectations mediate the relationship between leader trait self-control and follower trust in the leader. Our research highlights the importance of met expectations in high-reliability contexts and demonstrates the value of leader trait self-control in building trustful relationships.

Leadership and risk: a review of the literature

Purpose

Even though every decision a leader makes carries an element of risk, no review on the topic of leadership and risk has appeared in highly-ranked management journals in the past 20 years. This is in contrast to the discipline of psychology in which leadership and risk receives considerable attention, particularly in the field of heroism studies. In the context of the established body of research on the topic of leadership and risk in the discipline of psychology, this review therefore explores the research on leadership and risk in highly-ranked management studies’ journals.

Design/methodology/approach

The review was conducted in five stages. During phase 1, journal rankings were used as basis to determine which highly-ranked journals to include in the review. Phase 2 focused on identifying all relevant articles in the journals included in our review. We searched for articles published from 2000 to 2021 with the words “risk” or “danger” and “leader” or “leadership” in their abstracts. In phase 3, the author analysed the abstracts of the articles in depth to determine whether the keywords were included on the basis of an explicit scholarly reflection or research on leadership and risk. Phase 4 focused on analysing articles' treatment of leadership and risk, and assigning key words and key phrases. Finally, during phase 5 key words and key phrases were clustered together thematically.

Findings

This study analysis yielded six thematic clusters. The first two clusters – on risk appetite of followers and leaders – are closely related. In total, 12 journal articles explored these themes. The remaining thematic clusters contain four and seven articles each. These clusters are risk, creativity and innovation; risk and failure; risk in dangerous contexts; and risk and gender. Nine of the selected articles did not fit in any of the thematic clusters.

Originality/value

The review reveals a significant lack of research on leadership and risk in highly-ranked management studies’ journals. The author found that the topic of leadership and risk is approached in a binary fashion: successful leaders are viewed as using risk to drive innovation and unsuccessful leaders fail because of risk. The author argues that the heroic bias in leadership research could be partly blamed for this binarism. In practical terms, the author highlights that the growing importance of chief risk officers – leaders appointed to deal with company risk – indicates a clear need for research on leadership and risk in general management studies’ journals.

Followers' unclear demands during the COVID-19 pandemic can undermine leaders' well-being: A moderated mediation model from an entrapment perspective

Although effective leaders are important for reducing employee stress during the COVID-19, limited studies have examined how follower behaviors can influence leader stress and well-being during the COVID-19. This study draws on defeat-entrapment theory to examine how followers' unclear demands during the COVID-19 consequently impact leaders' psychological states and well-being. We conducted a three-wave time-lagged investigation with a sample of 281 leaders in the United Kingdom and found that followers' unclear demands could generate feelings of entrapment in leaders, leading to decreased levels of well-being outcomes in leaders. Importantly, we found that leaders who have higher levels of leadership responsibility during the COVID-19 are likely to feel trapped by followers' unclear demands. They are also likely to face higher levels of feelings of entrapment and impaired well-being compared with leaders who have lower levels of leadership responsibility. We discuss the implications for theories and practices, as well as directions for future research.

"Everything Will Be All Right!" National and European Identification as Predictors of Positive Expectations for the Future During the COVID-19 Emergency

During the first national lockdown imposed in a Western country to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Italians tried to boost their spirits by hanging hand-drawn rainbows with the slogan "Everything will be all right" from their windows. To understand which processes might have nurtured their positive views about the future during the pandemic, the present study (N=846), building upon social identity research, examined the relationships among Italians' identification with their country and with the superordinate entity of the European Union (EU), trust in the main institutions in charge of managing the crisis (i.e., the Italian government, the EU, and the scientific community), and beliefs that the COVID-19 crisis would eventually result in the improvement of society. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that identification with Italians and Europeans had positive direct associations with positive expectations about humankind. Identification with Europeans was also directly related to positive expectations about Italian leaders and the strengthening of the EU through the crisis. Trust in the Italian government and, to a lower extent, trust in the EU mediated some of these associations. These findings suggest that governments should actively promote national and European identification to help citizens counter the negative psychological impact of the pandemic and maintain positive views of the future.

War Against COVID-19: How Is National Identification Linked With the Adoption of Disease-Preventive Behaviors in China and the United States?

Fighting the COVID-19 pandemic requires large numbers of citizens to adopt disease-preventive practices. We contend that national identification can mobilize and motivate people to engage in preventive behaviors to protect the collective, which in return would heighten national identification further. To test these reciprocal links, we conducted studies in two countries with diverse national tactics toward curbing the pandemic: (1) a two-wave longitudinal survey in China (Study 1, N = 1200), where a national goal to fight COVID-19 was clearly set, and (2) a five-wave longitudinal survey in the United States (Study 2, N = 1001), where the national leader, President Trump, rejected the severity of COVID-19 in its early stage. Results revealed that national identification was associated with an increase in disease-preventive behaviors in both countries in general. However, higher national identification was associated with greater trust in Trump's administration among politically conservative American participants, which then was associated with slower adoption of preventive behaviors. The reciprocal effect of disease-preventive behaviors on national identification was observed only in China. Overall, our findings suggest that although national identification may serve as a protective factor in curbing the pandemic, this beneficial effect was reduced in some political contexts.

Composition of place, minority vs. majority group-status, & contextualized experience: The role of level of group representation, perceiving place in group-based terms, and sense of belonging in shaping collective behavior

The current studies (N = 1,709) explore why demographic composition of place matters. First, this work demonstrates that relative level of group representation affects one’s experience of place in the form of self-definition (self-categorization), perceptions of place being representative or characteristic of factors that distinguish the group from others (place-prototypicality), and sense of belonging (place-identification; Studies 1a-1e; Studies 2a & 2b). Second, the studies illustrate that group representation within place shapes the way group member’s approach (i.e., expectations of group-based treatment and procedural justice; Studies 2a-2c), understand (i.e., attribution for group-based events, Study 2b; responsiveness to bias-reduction intervention, Study 4a; sense of solidarity, Study 4b), and behave (i.e., prejudice, Studies 3a & 3b; collective action, Study 4c). More broadly, I present a Social identityParadigm forContextualizedExperience (SPACE) that provides an organizing framework for the study of the impact of characteristics of place on social identity-based contextualized experience and (in turn) collective behavior. Taken together, the findings provide evidence of distinct psychological experience and orientation as a function of minority versus majority-group status within place, as well as for a group-based approach to place. Implications for the study of collective and intergroup behavior are discussed.

Leader group prototypicality and reactions to leader transgressions

Leader group prototypicality—the extent to which a leader embodies and represents the group—is a characteristic that typically engenders favorable attitudes toward the leader. The present research examines how leader group prototypicality shapes group member reactions to leaders who commit wrongful acts, that is, transgressions. In three studies, I propose and demonstrate that outsiders’ knowledge of leader transgressions moderates how leader group prototypicality influences group member reactions to transgressing leaders. Specifically, when leaders commit transgressions that are known to outsiders, leader group prototypicality leads to more punitive reactions by eliciting an acute threat to the group image. Furthermore, punitive responses against transgressing leaders driven by group image threat are more pronounced among highly identified group members. The current research shows when and why the oft-observed advantage of leader group prototypicality might be reversed.

Global Leaders for Global Teams: Leaders with Multicultural Experiences Communicate and Lead More Effectively, Especially in Multinational Teams

In an era of globalization, it is commonly assumed that multicultural experiences foster leadership effectiveness. However, little research has systematically tested this assumption. We develop a theoretical perspective that articulates how and when multicultural experiences increase leadership effectiveness. We hypothesize that broad multicultural experiences increase individuals’ leadership effectiveness by developing their communication competence. Because communication competence is particularly important for leading teams that are more multinational, we further hypothesize that individuals with broader multicultural experiences are particularly effective when leading more versus less multinational teams. Four studies test our theory using mixed methods (field survey, archival panel, field experiments) and diverse populations (corporate managers, soccer managers, hackathon leaders) in different countries (Australia, Britain, China, America). In Study 1, corporate managers with broader multicultural experiences were rated as more effective leaders, an effect mediated by communication competence. Analyzing a 25-year archival panel of English Premier League soccer managers, Study 2 replicates the positive effect of broad multicultural experiences using a team performance measure of leadership effectiveness. Importantly, this effect was moderated by team national diversity: soccer managers with broader multicultural experiences were particularly effective when leading teams with greater national diversity. Study 3 (digital health hackathon) and Study 4 (COVID-19 policy hackathon) replicate these effects in two field experiments, in which individuals with varying levels of multicultural experiences were randomly assigned to lead hackathon teams that naturally varied in national diversity. Overall, our research suggests that broad multicultural experiences help leaders communicate more competently and lead more effectively, especially when leading multinational teams.

Does Leader Same-sex Sexual Orientation Matter to Leadership Effectiveness? A Four-study Model-testing Investigation

Despite the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States (U.S.) and an increasing number of out gay and lesbian business leaders, we have little knowledge of the role played by leaders' same-sex sexual orientation in the leadership process. To fill this important research void, we drew from a recent theoretical model on leaders' sexual orientation and conducted four experimental studies designed to test and retest whether leaders' same-sex sexual orientation affects followers' leadership perceptions and conformity to influence attempts, and how the intersectionality of leaders' same-sex sexual orientation with leaders' gender orientation and follower characteristics may modify the influences of leaders' same-sex sexual orientation on the follower outcomes. Based on over 2,100 working adults in the U.S., the results of the four studies, where leaders were depicted as charismatic, indicate that leaders' same-sex sexual orientation could have negative impacts on the follower outcomes. However, same-sex sexual orientation leaders did not suffer double stigma penalization by having additional marginalized identities (e.g., also being women). Female followers were more supportive of same-sex sexual orientation leaders than male followers. Our research advances knowledge of and responds to calls for more research attention to leader sexual orientation in the leadership process. Research and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Communicating group norms through election results

In a representative democracy, leaders (ideally) who are elected through the electorates should indicate consensus that the newly elected leader truly does represent the majority of the nation or the group. That is, once elected, can the ensuing perceptions of the electorate's consensus provide the newly elected leader with a sense of legitimacy and the ability to represent the group? Two experiments demonstrate that the perceptions of group consensus stemming from democratic elections can imbue newly elected leaders (even if they were once deviant) with legitimacy. Study 1 (N = 158) demonstrates that normative leaders are perceived as more legitimate than deviant leaders when elected with high voting consensus, which increased the perceived prototypicality of the normative leader through greater perceptions of legitimacy. Study 2 (N = 182) showed that newly elected leaders (vs. candidates) are perceived as more legitimate, which in turn, increases the group's perceptions of the once deviant leader's prototypicality, granted that the leader is democratically elected. Results suggest that democratic elections create conditions under which once deviant leaders can gain in perceived prototypicality and create lasting changes to the group identity.

Grover S, Eckloff T. Proactivity at Work

Abstract. We propose that two aspects of leadership, perceived respectful leadership and the degree of leaders’ prototypicality, positively affect employee proactivity. A multisource and multilevel field study of 234 employees supervised by 62 leaders shows that respectful leadership relates positively to employee proactivity in terms of personal initiative and that leader group prototypicality diminishes this effect. Moreover, perceived respectful leadership and prototypicality substitute for one another in their relation to follower proactivity. This study contributes to previous research that shows leader–follower relationships enhance proactivity by showing the impact of perceived respectful leadership and leader group prototypicality.

Implicit leadership theory: principals' sense-making and cognitive complexity

Purpose

This conceptual paper explores a novel model explaining teachers' perceptions of their effective leader through the lens of implicit leadership theory (ILT), using the concepts of school principals' sense-making and cognitive complexity (CC).

Design/methodology/approach

The sense-making framework and CC theory were used to explain ILT, which focuses on individuals' perceptions of leaders' prototypical and anti-prototypical attributes.

Findings

The theoretical model suggests that school principals as sense-makers with high levels of CC will be perceived by teachers as effective in terms of leadership prototypes, whereas teachers' perceptions of principals with low levels of CC will be related to leadership anti-prototypes.

Research limitations/implications

This paper suggests a model for a multidimensional understanding of the relationship between principals' sense-making and CC and their influence on teachers' perceptions of an effective leader.

Originality/value

Opening avenues for future research into employee perceptions of different leadership characteristics, this model emphasizes the cognitive aspects of school principals within implicit leadership theories. This theoretical model should be further examined empirically, and other types of CC, such as social and behavioral aspects, or affective complexity and self-complexity, should be considered.

Advancing the social identity theory of leadership: A meta-analytic review of leader group prototypicality

This research advances a social identity approach to leadership through a meta-analysis examining four novel hypotheses that clarify the nature and impact of leader group prototypicality (the extent to which a leader is perceived to embody shared social identity). A random-effects meta-analysis ( k = 128, N = 32,834) reveals a moderate-to-large effect of prototypicality that holds across evaluative and behavioral outcomes. The effect is stronger (a) when prototypicality is conceptualized as the ideal-type rather than the average group member, (b) for stronger prototypes (indexed by group longevity), and (c) for group members in formal rather than nonformal leadership roles. The effect is not contingent on group prototypicality entailing differentiation from other (out)groups. Additionally, results provide meta-analytic evidence of widely examined key factors: follower group identification (which enhances the relationship) and leader group-serving behavior (which attenuates the relationship). Building on these findings, we outline the implications for the next wave of theoretical and empirical work.

Identity leadership and well-being: team identification and trust as underlying mechanisms

Purpose

The purpose of the present research was to examine the impact of identity leadership on employees' well-being mediated by team identification and trust in the leader.

Design/methodology/approach

In study 1, N = 192 employees participated in a cross-sectional online survey measuring identity leadership, team identification, trust in the leader and well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, work engagement, burnout). In study 2, N = 72 university students participated in a vignette study that manipulated high/low identity leadership and tested its effect on team identification and trust in the leader.

Findings

In study 1, identity leadership predicted higher team identification, trust in the leader and well-being of employees. Team identification mediated the positive relationship of identity leadership with both job satisfaction and work engagement, while trust in the leader mediated the negative relationship of identity leadership with burnout. In study 2, team identification and trust in the leader were significantly higher in the high identity leadership condition.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are consistent with the few existing studies on the positive effects of identity leadership. However, due to the correlational nature of the data in study 1, future longitudinal field research is needed to support the current findings and further establish causality for the model as a whole.

Practical implications

Identity leadership seems to be promising to increase well-being among employees. Thus, leadership development programs to foster identity leadership and collective identity should be implemented in organizations and further tested with respect to well-being.

Originality/value

This research contributes to an emerging body of research on the social identity approach to leadership and supports the recent claims that social identity might be one of the links between leader behavior and well-being of employees. Moreover, this study is among the first to investigate and experimentally test the underlying mechanisms of identity leadership.

Why Employees Help Teammates When Their Leader Looks Powerful: A Multilevel Investigation

We extend prior research on leader power by examining why and when leader referent and expert powers influence team members’ organizational citizenship behaviors directed at other individuals (OCBI) from the multilevel perspective. We propose that leader referent and expert power perceptions operate at both individual and team levels and lead to OCBI through distinct motivational mechanisms. Drawing upon social identity theory, we suggest that team-level leader referent and expert powers facilitate social identification as salient team features and in turn promote team members’ OCBI through collective team identification. On the other hand, at the individual level, leader referent and expert powers are experienced discretionarily and affect members’ OCBI through dyadic exchange relationships with a leader–member exchange (LMX) based on the reciprocity norm. Furthermore, collective team identification is hypothesized to moderate the relationship between LMX and OCBI. Findings from 465 employees in 80 teams show that team-level leader referent power enhances collective team identification and OCBI beyond expert power but not vice versa. At the individual level, both referent and expert powers have positive indirect impact on OCBI via LMX. The moderating effect of collective team identification is supported in that team members convert high-quality LMX into OCBI only when collective team identification is higher. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

How is responsible leadership related to the three-component model of organisational commitment?

Purpose

The increasing number of corporate scandals and averseness to employee commitment have brought the concept of responsible leadership (RL) to the forefront of organisational studies. Many studies have found that leadership practice is an antecedent of employees' organisational commitment. However, little attention has been devoted to exploring the newly evolved RL for its impact on employee commitment. This study examines the influence of RL on the three-component model of organisational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying the Social Identity Theory of Leadership (SITL), this study investigates the relationships between RL and the three-component model of organisational commitment. In particular, this study is framed to apply RL as a value-based leadership approach to examine its relationship on employees’ three types of organisational commitment such as affective, continuance and normative commitment. A web-based self-administered survey was applied to collect data targeting a sample of 200 full-time Australian employees.

Findings

The study results show that RL significantly effects all three components of organisational commitment. Both affective and normative commitments were significantly associated by RL compared to employees' continuance commitment.

Originality/value

The paper extends the knowledge regarding newly evolved concept of RL which explains the significance of employee commitment and, further it provides empirical evidence from the perspective of SITL. The main contribution in this paper comes from new knowledge about the associations among RL and the three-component model of organisational commitment.

Effect of Computer-Simulated Leaders' Compromise on Members' Emotional State and Protest Behavior

Participants (N = 119) played the "Dictator Game" (computer mediated) with two bogus computer-simulated players, one of whom, the Dictator, distributed money across ten trials, either as extremely unfair (Inflexible Dictator) or being less unfair (Flexible Dictator). The other player either protested against (Protest condition) or did not react (Apathy condition) to the dictator's decision, after each trial. We measured participants' self-reported anger and disinterest, physiological skin conductance (SCL), heart rate (HR), and number and type of comments directed to the Dictator. Anger and number of comments were lower in the Apathy than in the Protest condition. Participants' SCL, HR, and protest comments decreased in the Apathy condition, and increased in the Protest condition. Protest assumed a more punitive tone in the Inflexible than in the Flexible Dictator condition. We discuss these results' contribution to understand individuals' motivation to engage in protest and apathy, and the role of emotions in that process.