Positive Organizational Psychology
- Exam 2: Summary
Theme 5: Leadership
1. What is leadership?
2. What different types of leadership styles are there? How effective are they?
3. What leadership theories are there?
4. How do you measure leadership(styles)?
5. To what extend is leadership developmental? (personality, nature/nurture, training)
6. Are there differences in leadership styles between males and females?
7. What are the outcomes of the different leadership styles, for instance on performance
and well-being?
8. How can a leader influence well-being of followers?
9. Which leadership style is most related to performance of followers?
1. Avolio, B., Walumbwa, F., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Current Theories,
Research, and Future Directions.
Leadership: Dyadic, shared, relational, strategic, global & complex social dynamic
Authentic Leadership: Transparent & ethical, openness in sharing information needed to
make decisions & accepting follower inputs; pseudo vs. authentic
Genuine leadership development: Integrates positive organizational behavior (e.g.
broaden/build) with life-span of leadership development; Before: deficit-reduction
o Development: Developed org. contexts and psychological capacities > self-
awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors > positive self-development
Critic: Multilevel levels-of-analysis not well addressed, leader/follower/context
Components: Balanced processing (objectively analyzing data before decision),
internalized moral perspective (internal moral standards), relational transparency
(presenting authentic self, openly sharing info & feelings), self-awareness
(understanding own strengths/weaknesses, sense-making of world);
Predicts: OCB/commitment/satisfaction with supervisor/performance
Studies development
o Heritability: twins: 30% leadership style heritable, 70% contextual
o Interventions: positive impact on work outcomes (perf.)
Future focus: validity, nomological network, cross-situational/ cultural
o What impacts development, multiple levels of analysis, cognitive to
organizational climates; life-span development & cognitive psychology
o Leader’s self-concept / identity, working self-concept (construed in current
moment but also triggered by events/training), developmental
readiness/capacity or motivation to develop
Cognitive Psychology and Leadership: approaches emphasizing how leaders/followers
think & process information; focus: activities individual leader to interactions between
individuals
Self-concept: structure (ways content is organized for processing) & contents
(evaluations of oneself and self-beliefs)
o Components: self-views (actual), current goals, possible selves (ideals)
1
, Schema: organizing framework, helps one understand and make sense of context/
experience – processes (e.g. vision) & scripts (behaviors associated w/ a schema)
o Different styles > different schemas for interpreting > different behavior
Values (make some salient) & self-concept (activate specific identity – create
collective identity): mediators leader’s actions and follower behaviors
Social Identity: what constitutes prototypicality; followers drawn to leaders who are
exemplars of groups they belong to/want to join
o Dynamic: prototypes applied/adapted based on constraints/challenges leader
faces
Leadership theories > perf. outcomes previously focus on effect on leaders/
followers (e.g. how they disadvantage them) but now on development
Future Focus: how leaders/followers attend to/process/make decisions/develop, link
of self-concept to theories on leadership
New-Genre Leadership: shift from transactional models to charismatic, inspirational,
transformational, visionary leadership
Outcomes perf. outcomes (effectiveness, org. outcomes such as turnover) - better
explanation than focus on exchange
Charismatic/Transformational: Transform and inspire followers to perform beyond
expectation while transcending self-interest for the good of the org.; raise their
aspirations, activate higher order values -> identify w/ leader/mission
Future Focus: determinants/predictors, process/boundary conditions, link to
emotions followers, mediating/moderating variables for link to firm perf., alternative
research designs, multiple sources and mixed methods
Complexity Leadership: Hierarchical models underestimate complexity of org. context –
not simple exchange but dynamic leadership process
Leadership: Enacted through any interaction in an organization / emergent
phenomenon within complex systems
Adaptive outcomes e.g. knowledge dissemination, learning, innovation, adaption
CAS Complex Adaptive System Unit of Analysis; interdependent agents that can
operate simultaneously on basis of certain rules/localized knowledge that governs
CAS, while also able to adapt/emerge based on feedback from system
Complexity Leadership Theory: explanation how CAS operates within bureaucratic
org.; leadership roles: adaptive (e.g. engage to brainstorm to overcome challenge),
administrative (e.g. formal planning), enabling (e.g. minimizing constraints)
Future Focus: methods, substantive research, assessing emergent construct within
dynamically changing context
Shared, Collective or Distributed Leadership:
“A dynamic, interactive influence process among individuals in groups for which the
objective is to lead one another to the achievement of a group/ organizational goal.
This influence process often involves peer, or lateral, influence and at other times
involves upward or downward hierarchical influence”
Knowledge-driven era: firms distributed across cultures > individual-based “heroic”
leadership models not sustainable > shared leadership
o Emergent state, dynamic, develops throughout team’s lifespan, varies based on
team inputs, processes and outcomes
o Produces: patterns of reciprocal influence, which reinforce and develop
further relationships between team members
2
, o Property of whole system vs. solely property of indiv.; effectiveness product
of connections among parts, not result of one part
Future focus: definition agreement, Boundary conditions, mediators, moderators,
Team environment enabling shared leadership, External team leader’s effect on
team’s ability/motivation for shared leadership
Leader-Member Exchange: relationship between leader & follower; exchange relationships
- quality of relationship alters impact on important outcomes
Leadership: developing effective relationships resulting in mutual and incremental
influence
Studies: Agreement > quality relation > performance / OCB, low-quality exchange –
more effort in certain conditions (e.g. perceptions of supervisor competence), use of
impression management tactics (ingratiation)
Extensions: leadership dyads transformation from individual to shared interest //
impact gender // antecedents/consequences (qual. Relationship) // LMX-MMX
Theory of Sharing Network Leadership (social network theory, org. as system of
interdependent dyadic relations -> importance of influences on individual, team and
network flows of behavior)
Future Focus: Measurement, conceptualizations of social context (within which
relation occurs), research designs, objective perf. measures, across cultures
Followership and Leadership: Impact followership on leadership; follower attributes as
inputs and not outcomes leadership process
Romance of Leadership
Social constructionist theory: leadership affected by way followers construct their
understanding of leader (personality, behaviors & effectiveness interpretations)
Follower-centric views – updates
Self-concept clarity & collective identity followers determine how they form
charismatic relationships with leader
Personalized relationship > more follower blind loyalty, obedience and deference
Passivity/Proactivity levels basis of social constructions of followership >
effectiveness (or not) in role
Future Focus: Needs/identities/implicit theories followers effect on leader selection/
emergence/endorsement/acceptance; effect of follower interactions/social network; follower
expectations, values, attitudes; acceptance/support of leader; followers
characteristics/attitudes; construction of followership across industries/cultures
Substitutes for Leadership
Substitute-for-leadership Theory: situational factors enhance, neutralize, and/or
totally substitute for leadership; (e.g. prevention vs. promotion focus employee)
o E.g. electronic brainstorming group decision support system > leadership from
the operating rules for using the system to engage
o Not sufficient evidence
Future Focus: Moderators, Models, Samples, Research design
Servant Leadership: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization,
foresight, stewardship, commitment, building community
Functional attributes: honest, trustworthy, service-oriented, role model,
demonstrating appreciation of other’s service, empowerment
Accompany attributes: Communicators, listener, credible, competent, encouraging,
teachers, delegators
3
, Outcomes: satisfaction/commitment/caring for safety/organizational trust/ratings for
leader’s values of empathy, integrity and competence
Future Focus: Follower-centric approach / Measurement
Spirituality and leadership: comprising the values, attitudes & behaviors necessary to
intrinsically motivate one’s self and others so that they have a sense of spiritual survival
through calling and membership; no consensus on definition
Sense of calling/creation of org. cultures characterized by altruistic love
Body, mind, heart, spirit > motivation for perf./commitment/ joy, peace, serenity
Future Focus: definition without tying it to one particular religion/philosophical
base; common elements of search for meaning, reflection, connection, creativity,
transformation, sacredness, energy
o Now two schools: theological vs. focus on understanding inner motivation and
drive a leader creates in followers to enhance workplace spirituality
Cross-Cultural Leadership: Globalization of organization, not only Western context
Substantial differences in how it is conceptualized and defined
Project GLOBE: Global leadership & organizational behavioral effectiveness
o Cultural dimensions at both org. and societal level of analysis (Hofstede)
o Cultural beliefs about effective leaders; attributes & behaviors varied by
culture but some theories universal endorsement
o Ethnographies of individual countries
Approaches:
o International experience – live in different cultures to be prepared
o Competencies needed to lead effectively across cultures - set of experiences
& competencies allowing to manage across cultures rather than deep
knowledge of 1 or 2 specific cultures: global mindset & cultural intelligence
Future Focus: Culture / conceptual and methodological challenges / research design
(levels of analysis, cross-level models, statistical techniques)
E-Leadership: Leading virtually;
Traditional models: face-to-face interaction, insufficient
Questions: Provision of feedback, encouragement, rewards, motivation: how to do
this? + impact of technological development on leadership
o E.g. nature of technology (richness/transparency) effect on trust?
o Challenges: time zones, infrastructures, hard/software platforms etc.
Leadership functions differ when mediated through technology;
Structural factors (e.g. distance) affect e-leadership and virtual team effectiveness
Research: e.g.: face-to-face more accepting of group decisions > synergy/
constructive interaction than virtual teams (these higher defensive interaction styles)
Future Focus: motivational element in virtual groups that may not exist w/ lab
groups / leadership in environments lacking central coordination mechanism / areas:
task ownership, cohesion, media richness, communication quality, (a)synchronous
communication, task complexity, multiple virtual teams simultaneously / fundamental
issue: how existing leadership styles/cultures of group /org. affect the appropriation of
advanced information technology systems
CLOSING COMMENTS / INTERGRATION
Summary Points
4
- Exam 2: Summary
Theme 5: Leadership
1. What is leadership?
2. What different types of leadership styles are there? How effective are they?
3. What leadership theories are there?
4. How do you measure leadership(styles)?
5. To what extend is leadership developmental? (personality, nature/nurture, training)
6. Are there differences in leadership styles between males and females?
7. What are the outcomes of the different leadership styles, for instance on performance
and well-being?
8. How can a leader influence well-being of followers?
9. Which leadership style is most related to performance of followers?
1. Avolio, B., Walumbwa, F., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Current Theories,
Research, and Future Directions.
Leadership: Dyadic, shared, relational, strategic, global & complex social dynamic
Authentic Leadership: Transparent & ethical, openness in sharing information needed to
make decisions & accepting follower inputs; pseudo vs. authentic
Genuine leadership development: Integrates positive organizational behavior (e.g.
broaden/build) with life-span of leadership development; Before: deficit-reduction
o Development: Developed org. contexts and psychological capacities > self-
awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors > positive self-development
Critic: Multilevel levels-of-analysis not well addressed, leader/follower/context
Components: Balanced processing (objectively analyzing data before decision),
internalized moral perspective (internal moral standards), relational transparency
(presenting authentic self, openly sharing info & feelings), self-awareness
(understanding own strengths/weaknesses, sense-making of world);
Predicts: OCB/commitment/satisfaction with supervisor/performance
Studies development
o Heritability: twins: 30% leadership style heritable, 70% contextual
o Interventions: positive impact on work outcomes (perf.)
Future focus: validity, nomological network, cross-situational/ cultural
o What impacts development, multiple levels of analysis, cognitive to
organizational climates; life-span development & cognitive psychology
o Leader’s self-concept / identity, working self-concept (construed in current
moment but also triggered by events/training), developmental
readiness/capacity or motivation to develop
Cognitive Psychology and Leadership: approaches emphasizing how leaders/followers
think & process information; focus: activities individual leader to interactions between
individuals
Self-concept: structure (ways content is organized for processing) & contents
(evaluations of oneself and self-beliefs)
o Components: self-views (actual), current goals, possible selves (ideals)
1
, Schema: organizing framework, helps one understand and make sense of context/
experience – processes (e.g. vision) & scripts (behaviors associated w/ a schema)
o Different styles > different schemas for interpreting > different behavior
Values (make some salient) & self-concept (activate specific identity – create
collective identity): mediators leader’s actions and follower behaviors
Social Identity: what constitutes prototypicality; followers drawn to leaders who are
exemplars of groups they belong to/want to join
o Dynamic: prototypes applied/adapted based on constraints/challenges leader
faces
Leadership theories > perf. outcomes previously focus on effect on leaders/
followers (e.g. how they disadvantage them) but now on development
Future Focus: how leaders/followers attend to/process/make decisions/develop, link
of self-concept to theories on leadership
New-Genre Leadership: shift from transactional models to charismatic, inspirational,
transformational, visionary leadership
Outcomes perf. outcomes (effectiveness, org. outcomes such as turnover) - better
explanation than focus on exchange
Charismatic/Transformational: Transform and inspire followers to perform beyond
expectation while transcending self-interest for the good of the org.; raise their
aspirations, activate higher order values -> identify w/ leader/mission
Future Focus: determinants/predictors, process/boundary conditions, link to
emotions followers, mediating/moderating variables for link to firm perf., alternative
research designs, multiple sources and mixed methods
Complexity Leadership: Hierarchical models underestimate complexity of org. context –
not simple exchange but dynamic leadership process
Leadership: Enacted through any interaction in an organization / emergent
phenomenon within complex systems
Adaptive outcomes e.g. knowledge dissemination, learning, innovation, adaption
CAS Complex Adaptive System Unit of Analysis; interdependent agents that can
operate simultaneously on basis of certain rules/localized knowledge that governs
CAS, while also able to adapt/emerge based on feedback from system
Complexity Leadership Theory: explanation how CAS operates within bureaucratic
org.; leadership roles: adaptive (e.g. engage to brainstorm to overcome challenge),
administrative (e.g. formal planning), enabling (e.g. minimizing constraints)
Future Focus: methods, substantive research, assessing emergent construct within
dynamically changing context
Shared, Collective or Distributed Leadership:
“A dynamic, interactive influence process among individuals in groups for which the
objective is to lead one another to the achievement of a group/ organizational goal.
This influence process often involves peer, or lateral, influence and at other times
involves upward or downward hierarchical influence”
Knowledge-driven era: firms distributed across cultures > individual-based “heroic”
leadership models not sustainable > shared leadership
o Emergent state, dynamic, develops throughout team’s lifespan, varies based on
team inputs, processes and outcomes
o Produces: patterns of reciprocal influence, which reinforce and develop
further relationships between team members
2
, o Property of whole system vs. solely property of indiv.; effectiveness product
of connections among parts, not result of one part
Future focus: definition agreement, Boundary conditions, mediators, moderators,
Team environment enabling shared leadership, External team leader’s effect on
team’s ability/motivation for shared leadership
Leader-Member Exchange: relationship between leader & follower; exchange relationships
- quality of relationship alters impact on important outcomes
Leadership: developing effective relationships resulting in mutual and incremental
influence
Studies: Agreement > quality relation > performance / OCB, low-quality exchange –
more effort in certain conditions (e.g. perceptions of supervisor competence), use of
impression management tactics (ingratiation)
Extensions: leadership dyads transformation from individual to shared interest //
impact gender // antecedents/consequences (qual. Relationship) // LMX-MMX
Theory of Sharing Network Leadership (social network theory, org. as system of
interdependent dyadic relations -> importance of influences on individual, team and
network flows of behavior)
Future Focus: Measurement, conceptualizations of social context (within which
relation occurs), research designs, objective perf. measures, across cultures
Followership and Leadership: Impact followership on leadership; follower attributes as
inputs and not outcomes leadership process
Romance of Leadership
Social constructionist theory: leadership affected by way followers construct their
understanding of leader (personality, behaviors & effectiveness interpretations)
Follower-centric views – updates
Self-concept clarity & collective identity followers determine how they form
charismatic relationships with leader
Personalized relationship > more follower blind loyalty, obedience and deference
Passivity/Proactivity levels basis of social constructions of followership >
effectiveness (or not) in role
Future Focus: Needs/identities/implicit theories followers effect on leader selection/
emergence/endorsement/acceptance; effect of follower interactions/social network; follower
expectations, values, attitudes; acceptance/support of leader; followers
characteristics/attitudes; construction of followership across industries/cultures
Substitutes for Leadership
Substitute-for-leadership Theory: situational factors enhance, neutralize, and/or
totally substitute for leadership; (e.g. prevention vs. promotion focus employee)
o E.g. electronic brainstorming group decision support system > leadership from
the operating rules for using the system to engage
o Not sufficient evidence
Future Focus: Moderators, Models, Samples, Research design
Servant Leadership: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization,
foresight, stewardship, commitment, building community
Functional attributes: honest, trustworthy, service-oriented, role model,
demonstrating appreciation of other’s service, empowerment
Accompany attributes: Communicators, listener, credible, competent, encouraging,
teachers, delegators
3
, Outcomes: satisfaction/commitment/caring for safety/organizational trust/ratings for
leader’s values of empathy, integrity and competence
Future Focus: Follower-centric approach / Measurement
Spirituality and leadership: comprising the values, attitudes & behaviors necessary to
intrinsically motivate one’s self and others so that they have a sense of spiritual survival
through calling and membership; no consensus on definition
Sense of calling/creation of org. cultures characterized by altruistic love
Body, mind, heart, spirit > motivation for perf./commitment/ joy, peace, serenity
Future Focus: definition without tying it to one particular religion/philosophical
base; common elements of search for meaning, reflection, connection, creativity,
transformation, sacredness, energy
o Now two schools: theological vs. focus on understanding inner motivation and
drive a leader creates in followers to enhance workplace spirituality
Cross-Cultural Leadership: Globalization of organization, not only Western context
Substantial differences in how it is conceptualized and defined
Project GLOBE: Global leadership & organizational behavioral effectiveness
o Cultural dimensions at both org. and societal level of analysis (Hofstede)
o Cultural beliefs about effective leaders; attributes & behaviors varied by
culture but some theories universal endorsement
o Ethnographies of individual countries
Approaches:
o International experience – live in different cultures to be prepared
o Competencies needed to lead effectively across cultures - set of experiences
& competencies allowing to manage across cultures rather than deep
knowledge of 1 or 2 specific cultures: global mindset & cultural intelligence
Future Focus: Culture / conceptual and methodological challenges / research design
(levels of analysis, cross-level models, statistical techniques)
E-Leadership: Leading virtually;
Traditional models: face-to-face interaction, insufficient
Questions: Provision of feedback, encouragement, rewards, motivation: how to do
this? + impact of technological development on leadership
o E.g. nature of technology (richness/transparency) effect on trust?
o Challenges: time zones, infrastructures, hard/software platforms etc.
Leadership functions differ when mediated through technology;
Structural factors (e.g. distance) affect e-leadership and virtual team effectiveness
Research: e.g.: face-to-face more accepting of group decisions > synergy/
constructive interaction than virtual teams (these higher defensive interaction styles)
Future Focus: motivational element in virtual groups that may not exist w/ lab
groups / leadership in environments lacking central coordination mechanism / areas:
task ownership, cohesion, media richness, communication quality, (a)synchronous
communication, task complexity, multiple virtual teams simultaneously / fundamental
issue: how existing leadership styles/cultures of group /org. affect the appropriation of
advanced information technology systems
CLOSING COMMENTS / INTERGRATION
Summary Points
4
