Search results

This paper aims to validate a broader conceptualization of ethical leadership and a matching measurement scale (BELS) using survey data from 909 public servants in leadership positions in the Netherlands.

The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (using AMOS) and exploratory factor analysis were carried out with repeated CFA. A social desirability scale was used to check for model fitness.

Our findings support the notion that ethical leadership is broader in conceptualization and hence reject the theories that limit the role of ethical leaders within the confines of organizations. This study confirms that attributes like sustainability, leadership learning, ethical competency, diversity and resilience are part of ethical leadership. Such characteristics could not be measured with previous scales for ethical leadership. Also, ethical leadership is not separate from associated leadership styles.

A self-assessment scale for leaders was used for this study. Although there is no indication of social desirability bias, future research can also focus on follower assessments of their leaders. This study only focuses on the public sector context only.

Our results suggest that ethical leadership contains more subvalues than in the seminal definition. This study has, therefore, corroborated a broader definition of ethical leadership.

This study indicates the need for ethical leadership to be studied and assessed using a broader conceptualization and measurement scale.

Leadership assessment programs are intended to ensure that the organization retains or hires high-quality leadership. Among the many skills that must be included, executive communication is a cornerstone of effective leadership. However, there are many techniques to assessing executive communication that impose numerous advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of this study is to explore several techniques for evaluating executive communication skills in leadership assessment programs.

Building upon case studies from novel commanding officer selection efforts in the military, the current study outlines three possible areas of executive communication for leadership assessment programs: panel-based interviews, guided discussion and executive writing.

Although each technique offers some advantages, the best technique depends upon the context. Panel-based interviews can provide excellent depth in evaluating candidates, whereas executive writing focuses more upon crafting a deliberate and clear message without the ability to clarify or use nonverbal cues. Selecting an appropriate technique depends greatly upon the workload imposed on the leadership assessment team and the number of candidates available.

Leadership selection programs are often done piecemeal or based on local experience. By building upon novel efforts in military commanding officer selection, the goal is to promulgate effective executive communication techniques that will enhance leadership selection through more effective communication across all levels of leadership positions.

Although parity in workplace representation and leadership roles for women has improved, culturally embedded structural barriers, practices, and policies within organizations remain. Organizations can improve inclusivity by understanding the characteristics and impact of unconscious gender bias and implementing related leadership development programs.

This brief examines women’s progress in the workforce and in leadership roles, reviews the characteristics of unconscious bias and its impact on women’s workforce representation, and identifies strategies for addressing gender bias through leadership development.

Leadership research and theory suggest the benefits of organizational training that entails both women-only and mixed-gender training, self-knowledge of leadership styles, examination of assumptions about masculine and feminine ways to lead, and the value of authenticity.

The brief offers practical insights into unconscious gender bias for human resources teams, managers, and leadership trainers by examining assumptions about gender and gendered leadership beliefs.

Despite much attention being devoted to shared leadership, the negotiation of such arrangements remains underexplored. In parallel, the revival of interest in matrix structures reveals their challenges but neglects the dynamics of shared leadership. In this case study, the author analyzes the tensions experienced by senior managers of a healthcare organization transitioning from a hierarchical to matrix structure as they negotiate their leadership roles in this new arrangement.

The author interviewed 16 senior managers, observed their meetings and analyzed documents. These data were combined with secondary data including previous interviews and observations of this top leadership team. The author then conducted an inductive data analysis.

The author's analysis reveals that the tensions experienced by senior managers as they negotiate their roles reflect the co-existence of leadership surpluses (too much leadership) and deficits (too little leadership) in matrix organizations. The author argues that surpluses and deficits are not mutually exclusive but are interrelated and shows how leadership surpluses can create leadership deficits.

The author’s findings suggest that in contexts of leader abundance, actors should explore leadership voids. Particular attention should be paid to incidents of intrusion and exclusion, moments of transition and intense role negotiation, as those contexts are particularly conducive to leadership deficits.

While previous work on matrix structures focuses on leadership surpluses, the author discusses leadership deficits. The author explores how more leaders do not necessarily mean more leadership, but instead how more leaders may result in leadership voids.

There is currently a shortage of applications for the role of principal. There are a range of factors contributing to this, one of which may be the considerable levels of stress and burnout reported by principals and deputy principals. Distributed leadership may offer some solutions to this challenge. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of distributed leadership from a role sustainability perspective of school principals and deputy principals.

This paper follows a qualitative interpretivist approach based upon 15 semi-structured interviews with principals and deputy principals working in Irish post-primary schools. Data were analysed via thematic analysis.

Results indicate challenges to the sustainability of the role of senior school leaders comprising administrative overload, policy proliferation and challenges due to the complexity and breadth of the role of these school leaders. It was reported that engagement with distributed leadership could aid the sustainability of participants in their roles and the importance of focusing on well-being practices was also highlighted.

Recommendations include the need to reconsider policy proliferation and the need to reconceptualise school leadership. Further consideration regarding how distributed leadership can aid the sustainability of the role of senior school leaders, without adversely contributing to the already busy role of schoolteachers is also recommended.

The findings of this study are valuable as they reflect previous findings relating to the current challenges to sustainable school leadership as well as highlight distributed leadership as a potential aid to mitigate against these challenges.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak understanding the behavioral dynamics and role of knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) in driving knowledge worker performance (KWP) is paramount for organizations striving to adapt and thrive in the post-pandemic era. Drawing on the path-goal theory, this study explores the impact of KOL on KWP. In addition, this study seeks to examine both the direct and indirect influences of KOL on KWP via digital orientation (DO) and digital citizenship practices (DCP), especially for higher education institutions (HEIs) located in China.

The sample consisted of 319 academic staff from HEIs in China. The study used Smart-PLS 4.0 for analytical examination.

The results indicate that the impact of knowledge-oriented leadership on KWP is negligible. Furthermore, DCP and DO partially mediate the relationship between KOL and KWP. The findings of this research have practical implications for Chinese HEIs and organizations across industries, providing insights into how to navigate the complexities of the post-pandemic work environment and effectively harness digitalization to optimize the KWP.

The implications of this research extend beyond the HEIs, providing organizations in various industries with evidence-based strategies to promote effective leadership, foster digital skills, and cultivate a culture of digital citizenship in the post-pandemic work landscape.

Despite the increasing significance of KOL in the higher education sector, there is a dearth of studies establishing a relationship between KOL and KWP in HEIs. The present study seeks to fill this gap by examining the association among KOL, KWP, DO, and DCP in HEIs during the post-pandemic. This research provides significant contributions to the existing literature on the topic by scientifically exploring the association between KOL and KWP by examining the intervention mechanism of both digital citizenship practices and digital orientation.

In recent decades, researchers have increasingly begun to study the effects of transformational leadership on various teachers’ attitudes in K-12 settings. However, studies on the effect of transformational leadership on the job satisfaction of vocational high school teachers are not sufficient. Therefore, in this study, the nature of the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction in Turkish vocational high schools was examined.

The study data came from 847 teachers working at 82 state vocational high schools located in 12 regions in Türkiye. To test the research model, we conducted multilevel structural equation modeling to explore the structural relationships between transformational leadership, teacher professional learning, teacher’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction.

The analysis confirms that teacher professional learning and self-efficacy are prominent mediators in the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction in Turkish vocational high schools.

The present study is expected to contribute to the body of research focusing on the effects of transformational leadership on job satisfaction in vocational high schools. Implications for theory, practice and policy are discussed.

In a rapidly shifting market, organizations seek more diverse and innovative employee development interventions. Yet, these initiatives may have limited impact without employees’ engagement. This conceptual paper aims to propose self-leadership as a value-added strategy for promoting both individual and organizational development.

The authors conducted a conceptual analysis with three case examples. The cases were purposefully selected, aiming to comprehend how the concept of self-leadership has been applied within organizations and to identify real-life examples where self-leadership has been adopted as an organizational strategy.

This study demonstrates that self-leadership plays a significant role in facilitating human resource development (HRD) initiatives. Specifically, the authors illustrate how self-leadership interventions in companies empower individuals to take charge of their development, aligning personal and organizational goals. When effectively applied, self-leadership strategies positively impact HRD practices in the areas of training and development, organization development and career development, yielding benefits for both employees and employers.

This study addresses knowledge gaps in the emerging field of self-leadership in HRD by providing three companies’ examples of how self-leadership can add value to HRD. The findings offer unique insights into the synergy between self-leadership and HRD, benefiting academics interested in this line of inquiry and HRD practitioners seeking innovative approaches to employee and organizational development.

Research investigating the impact of school leadership on teachers’ emotions and practices has mostly focused on the leadership behaviors of school principals, thus ignoring the potential leadership qualities of other school members, especially teachers. The current study aimed to bridge this gap by providing further insight into the link between teacher leadership and teacher outcomes in Egyptian schools. Specifically, the study examined the mediating role of collective teacher efficacy in the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher commitment.

The study employed structural equation modeling and bootstrapping to analyze survey data collected from 497 teachers in primary and middle schools in Damietta city, Egypt.

The results supported our proposition that teachers’ leadership practices have more indirect than direct effects on teacher commitment through collective teacher efficacy. That is, teacher leadership practices positively affect teachers’ efficacy beliefs, which, in turn, increase their sense of commitment to school.

The study adds a new aspect to the literature by investigating the potential role of teacher leadership in promoting positive teacher attitudes that can have a positive impact on student learning. This is significant given the growing emphasis that educational systems place on enhancing school effectiveness. Specifically, understanding the factors that contribute to teacher commitment can inform strategies for retaining effective teachers and improving the overall quality of the teaching workforce. Additionally, since most of the empirical research on teacher leadership has been produced in Western contexts, it is important to enrich the field with studies conducted in other societies, especially in the Arab region.

This study aims to examine authentic leadership behavior (ALB) and empowering leadership behavior (ELB) as predictors of innovative work behavior (IWB) while assessing the mediating role of work-family enrichment (WFE).

Through the explanatory research design, data was retrieved from 303 respondents from 16 small-sized hotels in Ghana and analyzed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics (hierarchical component analysis within PLS-SEM).

The study’s findings revealed that both ALB and ELB positively and significantly relate to IWB. Additionally, our study found that WFE partially mediated the nexus between ALB and IWB as well as ELB and IWB.

The findings of our study imply that in the pursuit of excellence, ALB and ELB in the hospitality industry are crucial, as they not only nurture employee potential but also help employees to thrive both at home and at the workplace.

The hospitality literature lacks a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanism by which ALB and ELB influence IWB. To the best of the authors' knowledge, our study is the first empirical study conducted on ALB, ELB, WFE, and IWB in the hospitality industry.