Leadership Clarity Research Articles

Reimagining Post-Covid Relationships with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families: Reflecting with a Preschool Director

Abstract: Guided by the concept of “Pandemic as Portal” (Souto-Manning, 2021), this work utilizes ethnographic methods of inquiry and analysis to understand home–school relationships between Lisa, an African American preschool leader, and families at an early childhood center in the U.S. Midwest. Analysis of data from before and during the pandemic revealed continued themes of extended relationships between center leadership and families beyond preschool years, themes based in care over time, and political clarity of leadership. This political clarity drew on Lisa’s understanding of systemic racism and the school system that former students and older siblings would be entering. This paper also considers a disparity in the support and resources the center received, as it often had to rely on local problem-solving or established means and methods of communication to continue connecting with and supporting families throughout the pandemic, rather than turning to state or federal programs for support. Ultimately, the paper concludes that transformative and humanizing practices that developed before the pandemic helped guide the center through that time. The story of home-school relationships at this early childhood center provides examples of the potential to reimagine family engagement, avoiding a return to the “normalcy” of pre-pandemic home–school relationships across the U.S., which have historically been based in unequal power relationships that ignore systemic racism.

Majority Decision-Making Works Best Under Conditions of Leadership Ambiguity and Shared Task Representations.

The effectiveness of decision-making teams depends largely on their ability to integrate and make sense of information. Consequently, teams which more often use majority decision-making may make better quality decisions, but particularly so when they also have task representations which emphasize the elaboration of information relevant to the decision, in the absence of clear leadership. In the present study we propose that (a) majority decision-making will be more effective when task representations are shared, and that (b) this positive effect will be more pronounced when leadership ambiguity (i.e., team members’ perceptions of the absence of a clear leader) is high. These hypotheses were put to the test using a sample comprising 81 teams competing in a complex business simulation for seven weeks. As predicted, majority decision-making was more effective when task representations were shared, and this positive effect was more pronounced when there was leadership ambiguity. The findings extend and nuance earlier research on decision rules, the role of shared task representations, and leadership clarity.

Majority Decision Making Works Best under Conditions of Leadership Ambiguity and Shared Task Representations

The effectiveness of decision-making teams depends largely on their ability to integrate and make sense of information. Consequently, teams which more often use majority decision making may make better quality decisions, but particularly so when they also have task representations which emphasize the elaboration of information relevant to the decision, in the absence of clear leadership. In the present study I propose that (a) majority decision making will be more effective when task representations are shared, and that (b) this positive effect will be more pronounced when leadership ambiguity (i.e. team members’ perceptions of the absence of a clear leader) is high. These hypotheses were put to the test using a sample comprising 81 teams competing in a complex business simulation for seven weeks. As predicted, majority decision making was more effective when task representations were shared, and this positive effect was more pronounced when there was leadership ambiguity. The findings extend and nuance earlier research on decision rules, the role of shared task representations, and leadership clarity.

FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE RETENTION IN NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA.

Purpose: To establish the factors affecting employee retention in Non-Governmental Organizations in Nairobi County, Kenya.Methodology: The study embraced descriptive research design in order to provide a framework to examine current conditions, trends and status of events. The study targeted the 47 registered Non-Governmental Organizations in Nairobi County, the target population was all the Executive Directors and the Human Resource directors (total=92). A questionnaire was designed to collect information that contain open ended and closed ended questions. Data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. This is because descriptive statistics helps to describe the data collected and aim to summarize a sample while inferential statistics are used to interpret the meaning of descriptive statistics besides making propositions about populations and so helps in drawing conclusions. The filled in questionnaires were collected, cleaned, coded and fed in the computer for analysis by SPSS V22 for both descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The findings of this study suggested that a clear Leadership positively influences the employee retention in NGO’s in Kenya. The corresponding change in retention can be explained by a unit change in Leadership clarity with the constant. The research found out that Rewards has a positive influence on employee retention in NGO’s in Kenya. The corresponding change in the employee retention in NGO’s in Kenya can be explained by a unit change in Rewards. Rewards determine the organizational strategy.Contributions to policy and practice: Expansion of Leadership space to facilitate access by staff and other stakeholders through allocation of more resources towards development. Rewards play a key role in motivating employees, hence retention in the NGO sector in Kenya. The study recommends more policies developed around rewarding of employees.

Moving Health Upstream in Urban Development: Reflections on the Operationalization of a Transdisciplinary Case Study.

This paper describes the development, conceptualization, and implementation of a transdisciplinary research pilot, the aim of which is to understand how human and planetary health could become a priority for those who control the urban development process. Key challenges include a significant dislocation between academia and the real world, alongside systemic failures in valuation and assessment mechanisms. The National Institutes of Health four‐phase model of transdisciplinary team‐based research is drawn on and adapted to reflect on what has worked well and what has not operationally. Results underscore the need for experienced academics open to new collaborations and ways of working; clarity of leadership without compromising exploration; clarification of the poorly understood “impacts interface” and navigation toward effective real world impact; acknowledgement of the additional time and resource required for transdisciplinary research and “nonacademic” researchers. Having practitioner‐researchers as part of the research leadership team requires rigourous reflective practice and effective management, but it can also ensure breadth in transdisciplinary outlook as well as constant course correction toward real‐world impact. It is important for the research community to understand better the opportunities and limitations provided by knowledge intermediaries in terms of function, specialism, and experience.

Brucellosis Control in Malta and Serbia: A One Health Evaluation.

Brucellosis, also known as “undulant fever” or “Malta fever”, is a zoonotic infection caused by microorganisms belonging to Brucella, a genus of gram-negative coccobacilli that behave as facultative intracellular pathogens of ruminants, swine and other animals. Brucellosis is a threat to public health, hence identifying the optimal way of preventing disease spread is important. Under certain circumstances, integrated, multidisciplinary “One Health” (OH) initiatives provide added value compared to unidisciplinary or conventional health initiatives. Conceptualizing and conducting evaluations of OH approaches may help facilitate decisions on resource allocation. This article historically describes and compares Malta's 1995–1997 with Serbia's 2004–2006 brucellosis control programmes and quantitatively assesses the extent to which they were compliant with a OH approach. For both case studies, we describe the OH initiative and the system within which it operates. Characteristic OH operations (i.e., thinking, planning, working) and supporting infrastructures (to allow sharing, learning and systemic organization) were evaluated. We scored the different aspects of these programmes, with values ranging from zero to one (1 = strong integration of OH). Malta demonstrated a higher OH index (0.54) and ratio (1.37) than Serbia (0.49 and 1.14 respectively). We conclude that context and timing are key to determining how, when and why a One Health approach should be applied. The adoption of a true OH approach that involved systemic organization, leadership clarity and transdisciplinary communication, collaboration, and co-ordination was essential to Malta's successful eradication of brucellosis after several failed attempts. In contrast, contextual factors in Serbia permitted the successful adoption of a primarily sectorial approach for short term control of brucellosis. However, while a fully-fledged transdisciplinary OH approach was not initially required, it is likely to be key to maintenance of brucellosis control in the medium and long term. Through these two case studies, we demonstrate that One Health initiatives should be applied at the right place, at the right time, with the right people and using the appropriate conditions/infrastructure. Lastly, OH evaluations should include economic assessments to identify optimal of resources in these situations, thereby justifying funding and political support required.

Leadership in interprofessional health and social care teams: a literature review

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to review evidence on the nature of effective leadership in interprofessional health and social care teams.Design/methodology/approachA critical review and thematic synthesis of research literature conducted using systematic methods to identify and construct a framework to explain the available evidence about leadership in interprofessional health and social care teams.FindingsTwenty-eight papers were reviewed and contributed to the framework for interprofessional leadership. Twelve themes emerged from the literature, the themes were: facilitate shared leadership; transformation and change; personal qualities; goal alignment; creativity and innovation; communication; team-building; leadership clarity; direction setting; external liaison; skill mix and diversity; clinical and contextual expertise. The discussion includes some comparative analysis with theories and themes in team management and team leadership.Originality/valueThis research identifies some of the characteristics of effective leadership of interprofessional health and social care teams. By capturing and synthesising the literature, it is clear that effective interprofessional health and social care team leadership requires a unique blend of knowledge and skills that support innovation and improvement. Further research is required to deepen the understanding of the degree to which team leadership results in better outcomes for both patients and teams.

Non-conventional Entrepreneurial Learning

Spirit connotes the life-breath that enlivens both individuals and organizations. The role of a leader is to unleash in followers this primal creative energy and guide it towards enlightened governance. Although learning organizations grow and evolve in knowledge, conflicts also arise between material knowledge and spiritual wisdom. Using insight from classical Indian wisdom, a more harmonious pursuit of both personal fulfilment and organizational enrichment will be addressed. This article will highlight the importance of exploring non-conventional methods of learning beyond cognition that may improve leadership clarity, decision making and relationship management. Discovering deeper levels of consciousness via meditation also strengthens personal mastery and purpose as well as system thinking and a sense of interconnectedness. The spirit of entrepreneurship draws deeply from such inner inspiration, finding expression in sustained commitment and high-energy performance. Such leaders must ignite a fire within themselves and their followers. Hence, the article begins with asking deep, uneasy questions for wisdom to emerge in leadership consciousness, charting a road map for future enlightenment in learning organizations, and concludes with examples of wisdom leadership from modern India.

Leadership clarity and team innovation in health care

The relationships among leadership clarity (i.e., team members' consensual perceptions of clarity of and no conflict over leadership of their teams), team processes, and innovation were examined in health care contexts. The sample comprised 3447 respondents from 98 primary health care teams (PHCTs), 113 community mental health teams (CMHTs), and 72 breast cancer care teams (BCTs). The results revealed that leadership clarity is associated with clear team objectives, high levels of participation, commitment to excellence, and support for innovation. Team processes consistently predicted team innovation across all three samples. Team leadership predicted innovation in the latter two samples, and there was some evidence that team processes partly mediated this relationship. The results imply the need for theory that incorporates clarity and not just style of leadership. For health care teams in particular, and teams in general, the results suggest a need to ensure leadership is clear in teams when innovation is a desirable team performance outcome.