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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2024

Marya Tabassum, Muhammad Mustafa Raziq and Naukhez Sarwar

Agile project teams are self-managing and self-organizing teams, and these two characteristics are pivotal attributes of emergent leadership. Emergent leadership is thus common in…

Abstract

Purpose

Agile project teams are self-managing and self-organizing teams, and these two characteristics are pivotal attributes of emergent leadership. Emergent leadership is thus common in agile teams – however, how these (informal) emergent leaders can be identified in teams remains far from understood. The purpose of this research is to uncover techniques that enable top management to identify emergent agile leaders.

Methodology/design

We approached six agile teams from four organizations. We employ social network analysis (SNA) and aggregation approaches to identify emergent agile leaders.

Design/methodology/approach

We approached six agile teams from four organizations. We employ SNA and aggregation approaches to identify emergent agile leaders.

Findings

Seven emergent leaders are identified using the SNA and aggregation approaches. The same leaders are also identified using the KeyPlayer algorithms. One emergent leader is identified from each of the five teams, for a total of five emergent leaders from the five teams. However, two emergent leaders are identified for the remaining sixth team.

Originality/value

Emergent leadership is a relatively new phenomenon where leaders emerge from within teams without having a formal leadership assigned role. A challenge remains as to how such leaders can be identified without any formal leadership status. We contribute by showing how network analysis and aggregation approaches are suitable for the identification of emergent leadership talent within teams. In addition, we help advance leadership research by describing the network behaviors of emergent leaders and offering a way forward to identify more than one emergent leader in a team. We also show some limitations of the approaches used and offer some useful insights.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 October 2020

Sofia Schlamp, Fabiola H. Gerpott and Sven C. Voelpel

We investigate the role of gender in linking communicative acts that occur in the interactions of self-managed teams to emergent leadership. Specifically, this study presents a…

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Abstract

Purpose

We investigate the role of gender in linking communicative acts that occur in the interactions of self-managed teams to emergent leadership. Specifically, this study presents a framework that differentiates between agentic and communal task- and relations-oriented communication as predictors of emergent leadership, and it hypothesizes that men and women do not differ in what they say but do differ in how they are rewarded (i.e. ascribed informal leadership responsibilities) for their statements.

Design/methodology/approach

Interaction coding was used to capture the meeting communication of 116 members of 41 self-managed teams.

Findings

Men and women exhibited the same amount of agentic and communal task- and relations-oriented communication and were equally likely to emerge as leaders. However, men experienced an emergent leadership advantage when engaging in agentic and communal task-oriented behaviors. Agentic and communal relations-oriented behaviors did not predict emergent leadership.

Research limitations/implications

The findings imply that theories could be more precise in differentiating between objective behaviors (i.e. actor perspective) and perceptions thereof (i.e. observer perspective) to understand why women experience a disadvantage in assuming leadership roles.

Practical implications

Although women displayed the same verbal behaviors as men, they experienced different consequences. Organizations can provide unconscious bias training programs, which help increase employees' self-awareness of a potential positive assessment bias toward men's communication.

Originality/value

This research utilizes an innovative, fine-grained coding approach to gather data that add to previous studies showing that, unlike men, women experience a disadvantage in terms of emergent leadership ascriptions when they deviate from stereotypically expected behavior.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 November 2017

Louis Hickman and Mesut Akdere

Effective leadership has been the focus of much research in recent years, but leadership development is still understudied. Information technology (IT) continues to grow in…

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Abstract

Purpose

Effective leadership has been the focus of much research in recent years, but leadership development is still understudied. Information technology (IT) continues to grow in importance due to the industries IT creates, the industries IT disrupts, and the potential IT holds for all companies. Because leadership is highly context bound, the purpose of this paper is to examine leadership development in the IT context to take first steps toward establishing best practices for IT leadership development.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper reviews leadership in general before performing an integrated literature review of leadership as it has been studied in the IT context. Then the paper presents three propositions regarding effective IT leadership development.

Findings

IT leadership development should involve formal mentoring, robust feedback that is integrated into the development plan, and should be treated as a core process for long-term success. Emergent and transformational leadership are important for IT.

Practical implications

It behooves IT departments to implement the leadership development programs proposed here because leadership has been identified as one of the most difficult skills to find in IT employees. The findings can inform training professionals exploring ways to improve the leadership capacity and leadership development in the IT units of their organizations.

Originality/value

The paper’s literature review uncovered no quantitative peer-reviewed research on leadership development in the IT context, suggesting an area of need for further empirical studies. Researchers and practitioners alike will benefit from a greater understanding of leadership development in IT.

Details

Industrial and Commercial Training, vol. 50 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0019-7858

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2017

Gabrielle Ka Wai Wong

The purpose of this paper is to highlight academic librarians’ understanding of leadership and leadership development, with the aim to shed light on further research that can…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight academic librarians’ understanding of leadership and leadership development, with the aim to shed light on further research that can inform and improve practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review on academic library leadership was conducted. Particular attention was placed on the three common leadership modes in academic libraries: emergent leadership, team leadership and headship. The review covers librarians’ conception of leadership, desirable leadership capabilities and existing leadership development.

Findings

Librarians view leadership as a process of influence, and understand that leadership does not only come from formal leaders. Lacking is a more structured knowledge of what constitute effect leadership. In the literature, team and emergent leadership have not been adequately explored; most leadership research in the field takes on a headship approach.

Research limitations/implications

The publications reviewed were selective; not all papers on the topic were included.

Practical implications

Featuring the three leadership modes brings librarians’ attention to the crucial differences among them; and hence directs future discussion to a more focused approach that addresses each leadership mode specifically.

Originality/value

This paper differs from previous literature reviews on library leadership; it is the first one comparing and contrasting publications using the three leadership modes.

Details

Library Management, vol. 38 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2014

William I. Norton Jr, Monique L. Ueltschy Murfield and Melissa S. Baucus

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework to explain how leaders emerge in teams that lack a hierarchical structure. This framework emphasizes the perceptual…

4124

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework to explain how leaders emerge in teams that lack a hierarchical structure. This framework emphasizes the perceptual processes through which team members determine whether or not an individual fits with the task, the group, and the situational context.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper builds on prior leadership research to develop a theoretical framework of emergent leadership, a testable model, and research propositions.

Findings

The authors suggest that team members’ perceptions of leadership fit depend on the potential leader's domain competence, fluid intelligence, willingness to serve, credibility, and goal attainment. A conceptual framework is developed to suggest these attributes combine to create perceptions of leadership fit that must correspond to the degree of stress in the situational context, which varies according to task criticality and time compression. The framework suggests that an individual perceived by team members to exhibit characteristics that fit with the situation will likely emerge as the leader.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focusses on emergent leadership, but does not address which path to leadership may be best. Future research may also address group dynamics (i.e. cohesion or group potency) and the implications for leader emergence.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the discipline by suggesting a potential path of leader emergence in multiple contexts of situational stress and leader behaviors.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 March 2022

Nandan Prabhu and Roopa Modem

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of shared transformational leadership and its components on team viability and team satisfaction through the mediating…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of shared transformational leadership and its components on team viability and team satisfaction through the mediating processes of workplace spirituality and team trust, the emergent states of team processes.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on software project teams working in India’s information technology sector. The study adopts a cross-sectional research design to investigate the relationships between the study’s constructs.

Findings

This study shows varying effects of the components of shared transformational leadership on team viability and team satisfaction. The study has shown empirical evidence for the mediating role of workplace spirituality in the relationship between shared transformational leadership components and team effectiveness components. This study reveals the intervening roles of workplace spirituality and team trust in the relationship between shared transformational leadership as a unidimensional construct and team viability and effectiveness.

Research limitations/implications

Team rewards and team autonomy can cultivate a sense of community and trust among team members. Team trust facilitates autonomy, and workplace spirituality helps develop connectedness among team members.

Originality/value

This study has contributed to the research discourse on team effectiveness by demonstrating that workplace spirituality and team trust act as mediators in the relationship between shared transformational leadership and team effectiveness. This study has shown the relative strength of the effects of the components of shared transformational leadership on workplace spirituality, team viability and team satisfaction.

Details

Journal of Asia Business Studies, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1558-7894

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 November 2019

Gouri Mohan and Yih-teen Lee

Collective global leadership requires team members to attempt to influence as well as accept influence from each other across multiple cultural, linguistic, and national…

Abstract

Collective global leadership requires team members to attempt to influence as well as accept influence from each other across multiple cultural, linguistic, and national boundaries, which is affected by the extent to which team members perceive the team as being safe for interpersonal risk-taking or the level of psychological safety in the team. The higher levels of collective leadership can, in turn, enhance the perceived psychological safety, and thereby create more positive outcomes for the team. This reciprocal relationship may be influenced by changes in team dynamics across the different stages of a team lifecycle. Using an inductive longitudinal study of 76 teams for nine months, we uncover the time-variant mutually reinforcing relationship between collective global leadership and team psychological safety. Our results show that the strength of this reciprocal relationship varies such that it is absent in the initial stage, becomes prominent in the middle stage, and then remains present, yet somewhat weakened, in the final stage of the team lifecycle. Our results also show that the initial collective leadership patterns in the team positively affect final leadership patterns, and this relationship is mediated by the team’s psychological safety in the middle stage of the team lifecycle. We discuss implications of this study on the theory and practice of global leadership and multinational teams.

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Tony Bush and Ashley Yoon Mooi Ng

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the findings from research on the relationship between leadership theory and policy reform in Malaysia. Distributed leadership

1703

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the findings from research on the relationship between leadership theory and policy reform in Malaysia. Distributed leadership is normatively preferred in the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB), the country’s major policy reform document. The research was conducted in two dissimilar Malaysian states (Selangor and Sarawak).

Design/methodology/approach

The research was a multiple case-study design, with 14 schools (seven in each state). Sampling was purposive, with schools selected from the different bands used to categorise school performance in Malaysia. Within each school, interviews were conducted with principals (secondary schools), headteachers (primary schools) and a range of teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders, to achieve respondent triangulation.

Findings

The findings confirm that the MEB prescribes distributed leadership as part of a strategy to move principals and head teachers away from their traditional administrative leadership styles. While there were some variations, most schools adopted a modified distributed leadership approach. Instead of the emergent model discussed and advocated in the literature, these schools embraced an allocative model, with principals sharing responsibilities with senior leaders in a manner that was often indistinguishable from delegation.

Research limitations/implications

A significant implication of the research is that policy prescriptions in major reform initiatives can lead to unintended consequences when applied in different cultural contexts. While distributed leadership is presented as “emergent” in the international (mostly western) literature, it has been captured and adapted for use in this highly centralised context, where structures and culture assume a top-down model of leadership. As a result, distributed leadership has taken on a different meaning, to fit the dominant culture.

Practical implications

The main practical implication is that principals and head teachers are more likely to enact leadership in ways which are congruent with their cultural backgrounds and assumptions than to embrace policy prescriptions, even when unproblematic adoption of policy might be expected, as in this centralised context.

Social implications

The main social implications are that policy change is dependent on socio-cultural considerations and that reform will not be whole-hearted and secure if it is not congruent with the values of institutions such as schools, and the wider society which they serve.

Originality/value

The paper is significant in exploring a popular leadership model in an unfamiliar context. Beyond its importance in Malaysia, it has wider resonance for other centralised systems which have also shown interest in distributed leadership but have been unable and/or unwilling to embrace it in the ways assumed in the literature. This leads to theoretical significance because it adds to the limited body of literature which shows that allocative distributed leadership has emerged as a device for accommodating this model within centralised contexts.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 57 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Exceptional Leadership by Design: How Design in Great Organizations Produces Great Leadership
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-901-6

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Olivia Efthimiou

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate heroism as an embodied system of leadership and well-being. Heroic leadership is presented as a baseline for sustainable futures and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate heroism as an embodied system of leadership and well-being. Heroic leadership is presented as a baseline for sustainable futures and global health.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents an embodied reading of heroic leadership and its sustainable development across five stages. It outlines its core functions, its grounding in self-leadership through physical and mental trauma and its holistic benefits, resulting in the development of the Heroic Leadership Embodiment and Sustainable Development (HLESD) model. The efficacy of HLESD is demonstrated in an empirical case study of heroism promotion and education: the Hero Construction Company and the Heroic Imagination Project.

Findings

Heroic leadership is revealed as an emergent, dynamic and distributed form of sustainable development.

Research limitations/implications

This paper demonstrates the critical connections between heroism, sustainability, embodied leadership and well-being and how they stand to benefit from each other, individuals and communities at large.

Social implications

The implementation of HLESD in educational, counselling and broader contexts in consultation with a wide range of professionals stands to offer significant benefits to pedagogies, clinical practice, holistic therapies and twenty-first-century societies, at both the community and policy level.

Originality/value

The emerging field of heroism science and the use of heroic leadership as an interdisciplinary tool is a novel approach to well-being, which holds immense potential for the imagining and fostering of sustainable personal and collective futures.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

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