Looking the Part: Stereotypicality in Appearance Among White Professionals Predicts Leadership Attainment and Perceived Leadership Suitability

This project explores the effects of racial phenotypic stereotypicality, or the degree to which a person's appearance is perceived as typical of their racial group, on leadership outcomes. Building on research showing that people hold an image of the ideal leader as a White person, we propose that looking more typically White may facilitate leadership attainment. In Study 1, which used a sample of American college football coaches (N = 1,106), White (vs. Black) coaches were more likely to occupy leadership roles. Furthermore, within race, stereotypicality positively predicted occupying a leadership or head-coach role among White professionals (and negatively predicted occupying a head-coach role among Black professionals). Study 2 elucidated a possible mechanism by showing a causal effect of stereotypicality on perceived suitability for leadership among Whites. These findings advance theorizing on the White-leader link and have implications for the ability of people of color to access lucrative professional roles.

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.

Differences in the Preferred Trustworthiness Between High-level and Low-Level Leaders

Drawing upon implicit leadership theories (ILTs), this research argues that the trustworthiness factors of leaders perceived by subordinates may vary with hierarchical levels of leaders. Based on this argument, a scenario simulation study (220 participants), an experimental study (562 participants), and an empirical survey (193 samples) were conducted. The findings show that subordinates are more concerned with the emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, and benevolence-related trustworthiness factors of low-level leaders and with the ability-related trustworthiness of high-level leaders; and leaders' integrity is the most crucial factor in trustworthiness for upward trust, while there were no obvious significant differences among different leader levels. This study contributes to the literature on trust in leadership and various ILTs and has human resource management implications.

Tell-and-sell or ask-and-listen: A self-concept perspective on why it needs leadership communication flexibility to engage subordinates at work

Beneath the verbosity of modern leadership theories, there is a simple truth: leading people is essentially about communication. The respective communicative philosophies underlying leadership theories can be broadly separated into two camps: one arguing that leaders should tell-and-sell and one urging leaders to ask-and-listen. In the present essay, we first define the two communication approaches. Second, we outline how both approaches manage to engage subordinates but in different ways. Third, we review the appropriateness of each of these communication approaches under different circumstances, outlining why communicative flexibility is needed. Lastly, despite the advantages, we discuss that leaders will struggle to adopt communicative flexibility due to widespread simplistic leadership schemas-in research and practice.

Expectations of Leaders' Mental Health

Understanding the causes and consequences of varying mental health experiences in the workplace has gained significant research attention, yet little is known about the assumptions people hold about mental health at work, especially with regard to the expectations people may have of their leaders' mental health. Given people tend to romanticize organizational leaders and have expectations regarding prototypical leader attributes, we consider whether people also hold expectations of leaders' mental health. Drawing on implicit leadership theories, we propose that people will expect leaders experience better mental health compared to those occupying other organizational roles (e.g., subordinates). Using mixed methods, Study 1 (n = 85) showed that people expect that those in leadership roles enjoy higher well-being and experience less mental illness than those in non-leadership roles. Using vignettes in which an employee's health was manipulated, Study 2 (n = 200) demonstrated that mental illness is incongruent with leadership prototypes. Using vignettes in which organizational role was manipulated, Study 3 (n = 104) showed that compared to subordinates, leaders are perceived as having more job resources and demands, but people expect that it is leaders' greater access to organizational resources that facilitates their well-being and inhibits mental illness. These findings extend the occupational mental health and leadership literatures by identifying a novel attribute upon which leaders are evaluated. We conclude by considering the consequences of leader mental health expectations for organizational decision-makers, leaders, and employees aspiring to lead.

An identity threat perspective on why and when employee voice brings abusive supervision

Purpose

Drawing from identity threat theory, this study aims to understand how and when employee voice can lead to abusive supervision. It proposes and examines a theoretical model in which employee voice is linked to abusive supervision through the mediating effect of leader identity threat.

Methods

We conducted a field study by collecting data from 93 supervisors and 533 subordinates in China at two different points in time. A structural equation model and Mplus software were used to examine the direct relationship between employee voice and abusive supervision, as well as the mediating effect of leader identity threat and the moderating effect of supervisor traditionality.

Results

Our results showed that employee voice was positively related to leader identity threat and had an indirect effect on abusive supervision via leader identity threat. In addition, we found that supervisor traditionality moderated the relationship between employee voice and leader identity threat. Subordinates' voice increased perceptions of leader identity threat among supervisors with high traditionality, whereas supervisors with low traditionality did not make this association. Finally, the indirect effect of employee voice on abusive supervision via leader identity threat was moderated by supervisor traditionality.

Discussion

First, this study broadens our understanding of the antecedents of abusive supervision by proposing that employee voice may induce abusive supervision. Second, it develops an identity threat perspective to explain why employee voice is positively related to abusive supervision. Finally, it enriches the research on implicit leadership theories by proposing that supervisors' cultural values can also influence supervisors' sense-making of subordinates' behaviors.

The effect of benevolent leadership on safety behavior: A moderated mediation model

INTRODUCTION

While high quality leadership is of great importance for enhancing safety behavior in the workplace, there has been a lack of research on how benevolent leadership influences such behavior. Subordinates' moqi (i.e., their unspoken understanding of the work expectations, intentions, and requirements of their superiors) and safety climate were introduced to examine this relationship.

METHOD

Based on implicit followership theory, this study explores the relationship between benevolent (well meaning, kindly) leadership and employees' safety behavior, as well as the mediating role of subordinates' moqi and the moderating role of safety climate. 608 employees of a petroleum company in China were randomly selected as participants, and the data were collected in two stages.

RESULTS

The results showed that: (1) Benevolent leadership is positively correlated with employees' safety behavior. (2) Subordinates' moqi mediates between benevolent leadership and employees' safety behavior. (3) Safety climate moderates the mediating role of subordinates' moqi between benevolent leadership and employees' safety behavior. (4) The positive effect of subordinates' moqi on employees' safety behavior is enhanced under a positive safety climate.

CONCLUSIONS

Benevolent leadership is an effective leadership style that enhances employees' safety behaviors by promoting a moqi state between supervisors and subordinates. The invisible environmental climate, in particular, the safety climate, should be a key focus in the promotion of safety behaviors.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study further broadens the research perspective of employee safety behavior from the perspective of implicit followership theory. It also provides practical guidance for improving employee safety behavior, namely selecting and cultivating benevolent leaders, enhancing subordinates' moqi, and actively fostering a positive organizational safety climate.

Impact of Superiors' Ethical Leadership on Subordinates' Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: Mediating Effects of Followership

This study examined the impact of superiors' ethical leadership on subordinates' unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) and the mediating effects of followership. The research subjects were officials from the ten central departments of the South Korean government, and a cross-sectional survey was conducted among them. Overall, 404 questionnaires were used in the empirical analysis. Multiple regression analysis and Hayes Process Macro were used to validate the research hypotheses, which examined the relationship among ethical leadership, followership, and UPB. The results are as follows: First, the relationship between ethical leadership and followership was statistically significant. Second, the study showed that followership had a statistically significant effect on UPB but not ethical leadership. Third, testing the hypotheses regarding the mediating effect of followership on the relationship between ethical leadership and UPB revealed statistically significant results. This study confirms that followership significantly influences UPB and suggests that ethical leadership is an important precedent factor of followership. The study concludes with the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, along with the study's limitations.

Espoused implicit leadership and followership theories and emergent workplace relations: a factorial survey

Previous research on implicit leadership and followership theories (ILTs/IFTs) and interpersonal congruence thereof has primarily focused on preexisting, vertical leader-follower dyads. This study explores interpersonal congruence of ILTs/IFTs at earliest stages of emergent workplace relations in which formal leader and follower roles are not preassigned. We suggest that ILTs/IFTs, when espoused to others, have sorting effects in the social marketplace of organizations toward adaptive workplace relations. We introduce the notion of espoused ILTs/IFTs (i.e., assumptions about leaders and followers that someone claims to have and articulates to others) and examine how congruence of self- and other-espoused ILTs/IFTs facilitates the initiation and emergence of lateral workplace relations in a 'New Work' design (i.e., job sharing). Results of an experimental study show that interpersonal congruence in espoused ILTs/IFTs drives attraction to a job sharing partner consistently across different types (ILTs vs. IFTs) and valences (prototypes vs. antiprototypes). While ILTs and IFTs have a similarly strong attraction effect when shared by self and other, the effect of prototype congruence is significantly larger than the effect of antiprototype congruence. The findings encourage leadership scholars to study ILTs/IFTs in a broader range of expression than hitherto and make practitioners aware of similarity biases in the formation of flexible work arrangements.

A power-with versus power-over framework of leadership behaviors, employee expectations, and employee creativity: A meta-analysis

Drawing on a power-over versus power-with framework and implicit leadership theories, this study examines how positive relations-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors affect employee creativity. A meta-analysis study with 143 empirical studies ( N = 40,023) reveals that both positive relations-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors were positively related to employee creativity and that psychological empowerment mediated these relationships. Further, the effect of positive relations-oriented leadership behaviors on employee psychological empowerment and creativity was stronger in countries of high (rather than low) power distance, whereas the impact of task-oriented leadership behaviors was stronger in countries characterized by low (rather than high) power distance. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Using a Role-Based Approach to Develop a Comprehensive Typology of Follower Characteristics and Behaviors

Although numerous typologies, taxonomies, characteristics, and behaviors of followers have been proposed, there has been little systematic work to integrate these efforts. Guided by literature on follower role theory and expectations for those in follower roles, we propose a theoretical descriptive typology of follower characteristics and behaviors from the perspective of how leaders view followers within their role(s). Specifically, we constructed our typological model based on the three core tenets of follower role theory: (1) active versus passive characteristics and behaviors, (2) self-directed versus relationship-directed characteristics and behaviors, and (3) stability-focused versus change-focused characteristics and behaviors demonstrated in response to organizational constraints. We then conducted a systematic review of existing follower typologies, taxonomies, characteristics, and behaviors and synthesized 173 follower concepts from 36 Journal articles and book chapters to build out our typological model of 8 specific types of followers, labeled as follows: Politically strategic followers, independent followers, proactive followers, conforming followers, deviant followers, alienated followers, devoted followers, and submissive followers. This typology has important implications for scholars and practitioners. For scholars, this is the first effort to integrate prior attempts to classify follower in-role characteristics and behaviors, thus providing a useful framework to examine various ways in which followers interact with leaders in organizational frameworks. For practitioners, this typology can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine how to effectively engage subordinates.

Character and Trust in Crisis Leadership: Probing the Relationships Among Character, Identification-Based Trust, and Perceptions of Effectiveness in Political Leadership During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to explore the relationships among character, identification-based trust, and perceptions of leadership effectiveness in the context of crisis leadership. Focusing on the leadership of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we first explore whether Canadians of voting age believe character is important in political leadership during the pandemic. Second, we examine voter perceptions of the importance of the dimensions of character identified by Crossan et al. (2017) and to what extent voters perceive Trudeau demonstrates the behaviors associated with these dimensions. Third, we explore the role of identification-based trust in the relationship between character and perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Fourth, we study the relationships between character, trust, and effectiveness during dynamic conditions where the stakes for citizens with respect to health and social well-being are high. The results of our study connect character to trust and perceived effectiveness of a political leader during a crisis.

Letting leaders spontaneously emerge yields better creative outcomes and higher leader-follower interbrain synchrony during creative group communication

This study aimed to investigate how the ways leaders arise (appointed vs. emergent) affect the leader-follower interaction during creative group communication. Hyperscanning technique was adopted to reveal the underlying interpersonal neural correlates using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Participants were assigned into 3-person groups to complete a creative problem-solving task. These groups were randomly split into conditions of appointed (condition A) and emergent (condition E) leaders. Creative group outcomes were better in condition E, accompanied by more frequent perspective-taking behaviors between leaders and followers. The interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) increment for leader-follower pairs was significantly higher at the right angular gyrus (rAG), between the rAG and the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG), and between the right middle temporal gyrus and the right motor cortex in condition E and positively correlated with perspective-taking behaviors between leaders and followers. The graph-based analysis showed higher nodal betweenness of the rAG and the rSMG in condition E. These results indicated the neural coupling of brain regions involved in mentalizing, semantic processing and motor imagery may underlie the dynamic information transmission between leaders and followers during creative group communication.

A call for the leadership education field

The collective message of this series of articles was formed by the thoughts of seasoned leadership educators. Their truth and investment in leadership education are clear. In this closing article, we share our thoughts on their many perspectives, ideas, and challenges. This article summarizes and synthesizes these articles with the metaphor of the bamboo field that strongly relates to the field of leadership education today.

Exploring alignment of assumptions in plural leadership: A case study of managers’ implicit leadership theories in the danish public sector

Several researchers have observed that growing attention has been given to the concept of plural leadership in the past couple of decades. However, the role of the manager is largely overlooked in the plural leadership literature. In this study, I draw on the concept of implicit leadership theories to explore how managers’ assumptions about leadership might influence organisations’ ability to realise plural leadership. Based on participant observation and interview data, I identify three basic managerial assumptions about leadership that align poorly with the principles of plural leadership: (1) management positions entail ultimate accountability, (2) disagreement is definitively bad, and (3) resistance is exclusively caused by faulty processes. I argue that these assumptions constitute an obstacle to the practical realisation of plural leadership and consequently that interventions targeting managers’ implicit leadership theories might be effective in developing plural leadership beyond rhetorical changes.

Do leaders and followers see eye to eye? Exploring patterns of congruent expectations and self-views in leader-follower relationships

Purpose

The authors examine mutually exclusive sub-groups of congruent expectations for leader and follower roles relate to sub-groups of self-other endorsement, and how these patterns predict relationship quality.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examine patterns of congruent implicit theories relate to patterns of self-other endorsement, at the dyadic level, using latent class analysis in 193 working-adult dyads. The authors then examine how these patterns predict leader and follower assessments of relationship quality using general linear models (GLM).

Findings

The authors supported 4 classes of dyads with specific patterns of congruent (or incongruent) ILT's and IFT's: Role congruent, exchange congruent, committed leader congruent, and role incongruent dyads. Class membership predicted leader-assessed leader-member exchange (LMX) and perceived support. The authors then supported 3 classes of self-other endorsement: dyads with mutual endorsement, leader identity endorsement, and no endorsement. Class membership predicted follower-assessed LMX, perceived support, and perceived contribution from leaders. Class membership corresponded meaningfully.

Originality/value

The authors empirically examine the extent to which relationship behavior can be understood: (1) by similar implicit theories, or (2) through identification with a leader or follower role. Moreover, the authors uncover unique combinations of congruence, and address a key challenge posed by traditional variable-oriented strategies typically used in LMX research.

The Effect of Implicit Followership Antecedents on the New Generation of Individuals

This study used the Predisposition Proposition Theory of implicit followership to determine the effect of a proactive personality and core self-evaluation on the implicit followership of different schemas. Intertemporal survey data for one month from 452 university graduates were collected to evaluate that core self-evaluation significantly and positively affects positive implicit followership and significantly and negatively affects negative followership. However, the effect of proactive personality on implicit followership is not significant. The results of data analysis support the interpretation of propensity propositions in the study of personality traits. This study also determines the theoretical significance and practical application value.

Followership: a review of current and emerging research

Purpose

Over time, the role of followers within leadership discourse has gained greater status, leading to followers being acknowledged as significant actors in the leadership process. This has led to the development of follower-centric leadership studies, as well as the more emergent research area of followership, with followership research having the specific intention to find out about followers from the perspective of followers. In this paper, the authors provide a review of role-based followership approaches, and implicit leadership and followership theories as a basis to build a case for follower implicit followership theories (FIFTs) as a focus area for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a review of seminal and current role-based followership literature, with a specific focus on FIFTs and followership studies conducted within the African context.

Findings

Implicit theories have been an area of leadership research that has added much value, and as such could do the same for development of followership research. FIFTs as a research area are nascent and, as such, should continue to be explored in order to expand our understanding of followership.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first literature reviews to have a specific focus on FIFTs, as well as on followership research conducted within the African context.

When Do Team Members Share the Lead? A Social Network Analysis

Shared leadership is not only about individual team members engaging in leadership, but also about team members adopting the complementary follower role. However, the question of what enables team members to fill in each of these roles and the corresponding influence of formal leaders have remained largely unexplored. Using a social network perspective allows us to predict both leadership and followership ties between team members based on considerations of implicit leadership and followership theories. From this social information processing perspective, we identify individual team members’ political skill and the formal leaders’ empowering leadership as important qualities that facilitate the adoption of each the leader and the follower role. Results from a social network analysis in a R&D department with 305 realized leadership ties support most of our hypotheses.

More than Follow the Leader: Expectations, Behaviors, Stability, and Change in a Co-Created Leadership Process

This conceptual paper challenges assumptions about the primacy of leaders and leading over followers and following in the leadership process. Leadership cannot be holistically understood unless followership and leadership are researched as they are enacted—in tandem. To move toward a more complete understanding of leadership, we introduce a leadership system which involves a co-created leadership process, unfolds over time, and accounts for stability and change in partners’ expectations and behaviors. Drawing on role theory and implicit leadership (ILTs) and followership (IFTs) theories, we suggest how expectations of self and other influence leading and following behaviors and the leadership process. Personal learning acquired through the experience of leadership results in stability or change in one’s future expectations. Our framework explains how stability and change in each dyad partners’ leadership and followership expectations comes about through constructionist and constructivist mechanisms. These mechanisms occur across two timelines: The first is the microadjustments made to expectations and behaviors within a particular leadership occurrence. The second is the loop between personal learning and the expectations each member carries into future leadership occurrences and relationships. Practical implications arising from this new framework include considerations for leadership and followership development and a contribution to leadership forecasting.

The moderating influence of error timing on follower perceptions of leader error

Purpose

This study aims to examine how the characteristics of leader errors impact perceptions and reactions of followers, particularly their willingness to follow a leader in the future and perceptions of error severity. Expanding upon the leader error and transgressions literature, this study considers how the timing of an error may influence how the error is interpreted.

Design/methodology/approach

This study’s sample included 283 students engaged in a 2 × 2 factorial designed laboratory experiment. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine whether error timing moderated the relationship between error type and two outcomes, willingness to follow and perceived error severity.

Findings

Relationship errors resulted in the worst outcomes and perceptions regardless of when they occurred. Task errors were judged as less impactful when occurring early in a task than later in a task. These results suggest that followers are more accepting of task leader errors when they have opportunities to recover from them, but consistently judge relationship errors as damaging.

Practical implications

Organizations should carefully consider the impact of leader errors and their context and develop strategies for error management and recovery.

Originality/value

This research addresses calls from scholars for greater consideration of temporality as a contextual variable in leader-follower dynamics, as well as those to take a more follower-centric approach to leadership research. This study also replicates prior leader error research and extends leader error theories to provide new avenues for future research.

Factors Influencing Medical Personnel to Work in Primary Health Care Institutions: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

In China, the primary health care institutions (PHCIs) have difficulty winning the trust of residents because of the shortage of medical personnel and the low level of skills. The government has advocated encouraging qualified doctors to work in PHCIs, but no obvious results are achieved. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this paper explores the factors affecting medical personnel seeking employment in PHCIs and then putting forward measures to improve the human resources construction of PHCIs. A three-stage survey was conducted to obtain the factors and a structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to examine the relationship of the factors. We found that the factors affecting medical personnel to work in PHCIs include the specific conditions and work contents of PHCIs, as well as the family life and regional factors. Besides, there is a significant correlation and indirectness between these factors. Therefore, targeted measures can be proposed to improve the intention of medical personnel seeking employment in PHCIs. This study provides theoretical support for encouraging medical personnel to work in PHCIs and improving the primary health care system.

There’s nothing as practical as understanding the nature of theory: A phenomenographic study of management educators’ implicit theories of theory

Although teaching in Business Schools takes a theory-driven perspective, there are multiple different interpretations of what this means. We make a contribution by examining how management educators define ‘theory’ and explore how differing definitions lead to variations in the way that teaching is conceptualised and designed. We adopt phenomenographic methods to reveal a five-level hierarchy of theory definitions ranging from simple descriptive notions of ‘theory as an idea’ to more explanatory definitions with causal and practice implications. This hierarchy shapes the way management educators design their teaching with those with the most sophisticated understanding of theory being the most practically focused in their teaching. Although all the interviewees view theory as having an interventional purpose to shape or change managerial action, management educators are haphazard in the ways they teach students to apply theory. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the essential–non-essentialist debate in management education and suggest avenues for future research.

Relational Dynamics of Leadership: Problems and Prospects

Relationships are central to understanding what occurs in the workplace. The leader-member exchange (LMX) approach dominates the literature on relational dynamics of leadership. Research supports LMX as a mediator between leadership and outcomes, and this reflects the centrality of relationships at work. However, LMX is not a leadership theory. We critically review the literature on LMX, with discussion of the requirements for “good” theory and how LMX falls short. We acknowledge some attempts through the years to develop theory to guide LMX research. The concept of “exchange” was not original to LMX. Our review of social exchange theory reveals that, contrary to the common approach, LMX is not consonant with exchange theory. Other attempts at theory offer partial explanations that do not capture leader-member relational dynamics. Some promising approaches to studying leader-member relationships have emerged in recent years. We offer suggestions for future theory and research and advocate for a return to role theory and the development of emotional sociocognitive approaches.

The Science of Leadership: A Theoretical Model and Research Agenda

I review the empirical literature on leadership, focusing on papers published since 2010. To do so, I introduce a framework composed of two features: whether theories ( a) involve the study of leaders or leading (i.e., the person versus the process) and ( b) conceptualize leadership as a cause or a consequence (i.e., an independent versus dependent variable). This framework can enable future research to accumulate in a more programmatic fashion and help scholars determine where their own studies are located within the landscape of leadership research. I end the review by critically evaluating existing work, arguing that the most popular subcategory of leadership research—lumped conceptualizations of leading, in which scholars examine multiple leader behaviors within a single construct—has significant limitations and may need to be replaced by a greater focus on split conceptualizations of leading, wherein scholars isolate single leader behaviors.

Forty years of political skill and will in organizations: a review, meta-theoretical framework and directions for future research

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the scholarship on political skill and political will so that the authors might inspire future work that assesses these constructs individually and in tandem.

Design/methodology/approach

The “political skill” and “political will” concepts were introduced about 40 years ago, but they only have been measured and produced empirical results much more recently. Since that time, substantial research results have demonstrated the important roles political skill and political will play in organizational behavior. This paper provides a comprehensive review of this research, draws conclusions from this work and provides a meta-theoretical framework of political skill and political will to guide future work in this area.

Findings

Scholarship in this area has developed quite rapidly for political skill, but less so for political will. The authors hope that recent developments in a political will can set the stage for scholars to create a theoretical and empirical balance between these two related constructs.

Originality/value

The authors corral the vast and widespread literature on political skill and will and distill the information for scholars and practitioners alike.

Turning visions into results: unraveling the distinctive paths of leading with vision and autonomy to goal achievement

Purpose

Leading with vision while granting employees autonomy is one effective organizational response to the demands of a dynamic external environment. The former is thought to align followers' behavior by providing guidance, the latter to increase variance in their behavior by relinquishing control; both exert beneficial but distinct effects on organizational performance. What has remained uncharted heretofore is how these leader behaviors shape their followers' cognition and, subsequently, yield improvements in performance. The authors argue that a leader's vision communication transforms followers' cognitive representation of their work. This not only enables them to specify their goals in alignment with the vision (goal clarity) but also to locate the meaning of their work within the bigger picture of the vision (construal level). By contrast, perceived autonomy in terms of power-sharing might directly affect followers' work engagement more narrowly.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors tested the model on a sample of 408 employees from eleven enterprises of a holding company. In the survey, employees reported perceived vision communication and autonomy provided by their leader. Furthermore, the authors assessed the employees' goal attainment. To capture how employees represent their daily work activities, the authors measured their construal level and their goal clarity.

Findings

The results show that both perceived vision communication and granted autonomy improve employees' goal achievement. Moreover, two processes mediate the relationship between vision communication and goal achievement in followers: first, specifying goals in terms of clarity; second, composing a higher-level mental construal of their work. In contrast, no mediation of empowering leader behaviors was found.

Originality/value

Better goal achievement through visionary leadership is therefore achieved through cognitive alignment of followers, while leader-granted autonomy acts as a motivational tool directly on performance.

Evaluating the Impact of Positive Implicit Followership towards Employees’ Feedback-Seeking: Based on the Social Information Processing Perspective

Amid the growth of COVID-19 pandemic, SMEs are facing greater uncertainties and pressures to survive because even though they are efficiently managed, their human resource organizations lack a large number of resources and a well-developed training system to foster the sustainable development of employees. Employees are important assets of the company, and their continuous growth and development are keys to the survival of the company. In this context, the individual worker’s assessment of his or her job role and how the assessments drive the employee to exhibit an appropriate proactive work behavior are particularly important. Previous research has typically focused on how organizations and leaders perceive employees but has rarely explored employees’ own implicit followership cognitive states. This study integrates the traits of positive implicit followership of employees, namely, industry trait, enthusiasm trait, and good citizen trait, with perceived supervisor support (PSS) and feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) into one research framework. In this study, 207 valid questionnaires were collected by using offline convenience sampling, and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted. The results show that employees’ industry traits directly and positively influence FSB, while enthusiasm traits and good citizen traits have no direct effect on promoting FSB. In addition, industry trait, enthusiasm trait, and good citizen trait significantly and positively influence PSS, with good citizen trait having the greatest positive effect on PSS. Furthermore, PSS has a significant positive effect on FSB. Finally, PSS was found to mediate between industry traits and FSB. Corresponding to the results of the study, the actions shaping employees’ positive implicit followership cognition and forming a good supportive atmosphere to promote employees’ performance of more feedback-seeking behaviors are recommended.

Relating Cultural Distance to Self-Other Agreement of Leader-Observer Dyads: The Role of Hierarchical Position

Multisource feedback is important for leadership development and effectiveness. An important asset of such feedback is that it provides information about the self-other agreement between leaders and observers. Self-other agreement relates to several positive individual, dyadic, and organizational outcomes. Given the increasingly intercultural context in organizations, it is imperative to understand whether and how cultural distance between leaders and observers relates to self-other agreement. We hypothesize that cultural distance within leader-observer dyads is negatively associated with self-other agreement. Moreover, we expect that this relationship is stronger for leader-superior than leader-subordinate dyads. We use a unique multi-cultural dataset of 7,778 leaders (52 nationalities) rated by 22,997 subordinates (56 nationalities) and 10,132 superiors (54 nationalities) to test our hypotheses. Results confirm that cultural distance is negatively associated with self-other agreement; we show that this relationship is driven by increased self-ratings and by reduced other-ratings. In addition, we find that these results are more pronounced for leader–superior than for leader–subordinate dyads. Implications for the theory and practice of self-other agreement and multisource feedback are discussed.

An Understanding of Implicit Followership Toward New Employees' Self-Efficacy: The Mediating Role of Perceived Supervisor Support

Under turbulent, boundaryless, and Internet age, the characteristics of career sustainability development have shifted from the perspective of development within the organization to the career development track of self-efficacy. New employees usually face the difficult stage of adapting to the new environment and establishing interpersonal relationships with new colleagues. When new employees enter an organization, they usually have different implicit followership cognitions. Previous studies have focused on the treatment of new employees by the organization and the leader, however, the implicit followership cognitive state of new employees has not been studied specifically. This research integrates employees' positive and negative implicit followership, perceived supervisor support, workplace friendship, and perceived self-efficacy into a research framework. This study used a questionnaire survey by an online professional survey website. A total of 394 valid questionnaires were collected. Structural equation model (SEM) analysis was carried out and according to the results, new employees' positive and negative implicit followership significantly affects perceived supervisor support. Furthermore, perceived supervisor support had a significant impact on perceived self-efficacy. Moreover, perceived supervisor support was found in a mediating role between the relationship of implicit followership theories and perceived self-efficacy. Finally, workplace friendship was found to be a significant moderator in the relationship between perceived supervisor support and perceived self-efficacy. Based on the research results, business managers are suggested to pay more attention to new employees' self-cognition of their job roles and enhance the self-efficacy of new employees in the entry stage.

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.

Implicit followership theories and resistance to leaders’ unethical requests: the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior

Purpose

This study aims to adopt a follower-centric approach in leadership and ethics research by investigating the impact of implicit followership theories (IFTs) on followers’ constructive resistance to leaders’ unethical requests. Specifically, it analyzes the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior in the relationship between IFTs and constructive resistance. Indeed, this study aims to examine whether followers with more positive beliefs about the characteristics that a follower should have IFTs are more likely to resist unethical leadership and whether this relationship is mediated by organizational citizenship behavior as volunteering acts that exceed the formal job requirements.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed hypotheses were tested using survey data from 273 employees working in a steel manufacturer company in Iran. The variance-based structural equation modeling technique was used to analyze data.

Findings

The results show that followership antiprototype negatively affects both follower’s constructive resistance and organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, organizational citizenship behavior mediates the relationship between IFTs and follower’s constructive resistance. Also, both followership prototype and organizational citizenship behavior have a positive effect on follower’s constructive resistance.

Originality/value

Contrary to the dominant leader-centric approach in leadership and organizational ethics research, few studies have examined the role of followers and their characteristics. The results of this study provide important insights into the role of followers in resistance against the leader’s unethical request.

The Emergence of Value-Based Leadership Behavior at the Frontline of Management: A Role Theory Perspective and Future Research Agenda

The importance of value-based leadership such as authentic, ethical, and servant leadership is inconspicuous. However, the benefits of these leadership approaches are often only explained through the behaviors of their followers. As such, limited research has communicated the leader's motivation for pursuing such leadership behavior, resulting in such discourse to escape theorizing. We draw upon role theory and paid attention to the role of higher-level management (leadership) through the trickle-down model to underline their importance in the organization. We then expand this role theory framework by synthesizing research to explain the emergence of value-based leadership behavior at the frontline of management. In doing so, we aim to provide a stronger explanation of the emergence of value-based leadership in organizations. We conclude this analysis by guiding future research in the form of propositions to investigate the psychological process and organizational factors to empirically examine the proposed role framework.

A New Perspective for Improving the Human Resource Development of Primary Medical and Health Care Institutions: A Structural Equation Model Study

In some countries, including China, primary health care is rarely utilized because of medical personnel shortages at primary medical and health care institutions (PMHCIs). Several studies suggest that the most effective solution is to guide qualified doctors and medical graduates to work in PMHCIs, but the studies and measures have been formulated only from the perspective of the government and PMHCIs; few have considered the subjective willingness of medical personnel. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the measures to develop human resources of PMHCIs from the guiding object. This research was divided into two parts based on implicit theory and a lexical approach. The first part collected the factors affecting their choosing PMHCIs for employment, and the second part used exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the dimensions and paths of the influencing factors. At last, seven factors were obtained from the EFA, and the SEM hypothesis fit the data well. Internal Organization Development, Patient Factor, Remuneration and Development, and Family Support had a significantly positive effect on the Sense of Gain of medical personnel seeking employment at PMHCIs, whereas both Job Responsibilities and Condition of the City Where the PMHCI Is Located had no significant effect. In addition, the indirect effects of Internal Organization Development and Condition of the City Where the PMHCI Is Located on the Sense of Gain were significant. The Patient Factor, Family Support, and Remuneration and Development significantly mediated the relationship between the internal and external environment of the institution and the Sense of Gain, whereas the mediating effect of Job Responsibilities was not significant. The improvement of family support, remuneration and development, and patient factors increase the willingness of medical personnel to seek employment at PMHCIs. In addition, the internal and external environments of a PMHCI play a vital role in guiding medical personnel to PMHCIs for employment. This research provides theoretical support for improving the development of human resources, guiding medical personnel to work in PMHCIs, and promoting the use of primary care services.

The Bottleneck Metaphor of Leadership Culture: How Shared Understandings About Leadership Develop in Groups and Impede Diversity and Effectiveness of Leaders

There are two big problems related to leadership today: unequal representation and high failure rates among leaders. This conceptual paper argues that commonly shared values, assumptions, and beliefs about leadership, i.e., universal leadership culture, are the common cause of both problems. After the concepts and levels related to leadership culture were explained, we introduce a multilevel, multi-actor process model named the bottleneck metaphor of leadership culture. This metaphor describes how leadership cultures are co-constructed by multiple actors based on their involvement in leader selection and reproduce themselves in groups over time based on emergent leaders' characteristics. Next, a diagnostic tool called “the leadership mirror” is proposed for organizations that want to assess their leadership culture's current state as a starting point for further interventions. Specific suggestions are made for various actors, ranging from individuals to organizations, for their possible roles in preventing undesired leadership cultures.

A two-nation investigation of leadership self-perceptions and motivation to lead in early adulthood: the moderating role of gender and socio-economic status

Purpose

Drawing on the social-cognitive and motivational literature of leadership, the present study examines the influence of young adults' self-perceptions of leadership on their leadership self-efficacy (LSE) and motivation to lead (MTL) in their future career. The authors further examine gender and socio-economic status (SES) as important moderators of the proposed relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The present investigation consists of a two-study research design, based on data collected from young adult samples across two culturally different countries, namely the UK (N = 267) and Japan (N = 127).

Findings

The study presents evidence of self-perceptions of leadership influencing LSE and MTL. The results further support the mediating role of leader self-efficacy. Regarding the moderating role of gender, results in both samples showed that the effects of leader self-efficacy on MTL were stronger for males. SES was found to moderate the effects of leadership self-perceptions of negative implicit leadership theories (ILTs) on LSE in the UK sample and the effects of leadership self-perceptions of positive ILTs on LSE in the Japanese sample.

Originality/value

This study fills the gap of empirical research focused on early adulthood influences on leadership development. In particular, this study has a three-fold contribution, by, firstly, developing a conceptual model that examines the role of young adults' self-perceptions of leadership on their self-efficacy as leaders and MTL; secondly examining contingencies of the proposed relationships; and thirdly testing the conceptual model in two countries.

Leading in Switzerland and Poland: A Case Study of Leadership Practices in Financial Services

Leading across national borders is a challenge, partly due to the cultural differences among employees in different locations. We investigate this dynamic for employees of a Swiss financial services company located in Switzerland and in Poland by surveying employees about their leadership expectations and experiences, as well as about their cultural values. We find that the leadership expectations of employees in these two locations do not differ significantly. However, their experience does, indicating the opportunity for further development of local Polish management practices and leadership behavior, and underlying the importance of local leadership development. In addition, we find that a few cultural dimensions have a significant impact on leadership expectations in both countries, indicating the opportunity to further refine situational leadership behavior throughout the organization independently of location. While organizations spanning across Western and Central European locations need to deal with significant differences in cultural and leadership expectation, our results suggest that they can effectively align leadership practices and thus mitigate the practical challenges arising from these differences.