Crucial Leadership Research Articles

Leadership & Corporate Social Responsibility In El Salvador. The Maquila factory League

League Central America (LCA) is presented as an example of leaders, managers, guides and entrepreneurs who are starting a new era in the management of companies, where values and spirituality mark the path to excellence and define administrative roles, behaviors and attitudes of all members of the organization. Corporate Social Responsibility is the Management Model. Leaders in the business world are judged by hard-number figures, short term actions; added value and wealth creation long term vision & purpose. But, surely, leadership is in itself a risky business role and a visionary leader does not shy away from taking risks because following his/her vision is inherently hazardous. Visionary leaders understand that spirituality, in the work place context, is about finding, meanings and purpose beyond one’s self. It means that need the others. The working life of engagement is about understanding and using our family social values and strengths in the day today. When we experience this deep engagement and absorption we are a state of flow (Csikszentmihaily, 1975 – Gardner 2002). A meaningful life comes from serving others, volunteer activities or visionary work. The visionary leader role may be instrumental by opening opportunities to motivational and positive work. The D.N.A. of Maquila League culture is oriented to task results and processes, it means short term. The professors we are trying to work with its managers, around 20-25, and supervisors, around 60, to develop crucial leadership skills based at medium- long term objectives like:  Showing respect for others, Demonstrating fair treatment in conflict situations, Demonstrating fair treatment in conflict situations, Expressing caring and concern, Listening responsively, Recognizing the contributions. Engaging in reflective practice every morning after to know the results of the day before.  Mission: Corporate Social Responsibility

“The Earth Gives Us So Much”: Agroecology and Rural Women's Leadership in Uruguay

AbstractCreated by women farmers in the late 1980s, the Calmañana herb co‐operative is a significant figure in Uruguay's agroecology movement. Technical assistance grounded in participatory feminist and agroecological perspectives aided the group to organize and establish their production and marketing system. Rather than promote specialization, the process enhanced local strategies and crop diversity that help households increase income and food security. These benefits indicate that agroecology is well suited to improve the position of small farms. Key to their achievement has been a production system focused on the women's interests, which include income diversification and family nutrition, as well as friendship and group solidarity. They have also become valued leaders in networks promoting rural women's agency, agroecology, and food sovereignty. This study confirms the importance of prioritizing gender equality in sustainable agriculture initiatives, not only for social justice but also to recognize women's crucial leadership and knowledge for agroecology.

WHY EVERY GREAT LEADER NEEDS TO BE A GREAT PERSPECTIVE TAKER

Perspective taking is a crucial leadership skill, yet Galinsky and Schweitzer contend that it becomes more difficult the higher you rise in an organization. Gaining perspective helps to motivate others, communicate more clearly, and navigate difficult or tense situations. Their article includes research they conducted with psychologists at the University of Iowa, the University of California‐Los Angeles, and New York University, as well as an anecdote about President John F. Kennedy and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Galinsky and Schweitzer conclude that when “leaders overcome their diminished motivation to engage in perspective taking, they can make better decisions, communicate more clearly, and lead more effectively.”

Supervision Training, Practices, and Interests of California Site Supervisors

In this descriptive study, the authors surveyed 220 California school counselor site supervisors of interns about supervision training, practices, and interests. Respondents overwhelmingly (71%) felt unprepared for this role and identified the need for more formal training and support. Results indicate a crucial leadership and advocacy role for counselor education programs.

Getting it done and getting it right: Leader disciplinary reactions to Followers’ moral transgressions are determined by construal level mindset

All normative leadership theories suggest that disciplining followers that transgress moral norms is a crucial leadership task. However, leaders sometimes yet fail to do so. Previous research has indicated that leaders may refrain from enacting discipline out of self-interest or from concern for the organization’s interest. We explore another option: leaders may simply be unwilling to enforce moral norms because of a negative attitude towards them. We argue and show that leaders that construe norms on relatively low (i.e. concrete) levels are likely to see norms as annoying obstacles, whereas leaders that construe moral norms on high (i.e. abstract) levels will have a more positive view of norms. In line with this, high construal level leaders are likely to be willing to enforce moral norms through discipline in response to follower moral transgressions. Low construal level leaders, in contrast, actively avoid doing so. We show this effect in different contexts and for different types of leader discipline.

Developing leadership in the UK's ambulance service: a review of the consultant paramedic role

Background: This study seeks to understand part of the emerging clinical leadership framework implemented in the UK's NHS ambulance services in recent years. The aim is to explore the relatively new role of consultant paramedics and understand their leadership activities in relationship to nationally determined requirements, and the challenges they face performing this crucial leadership role. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with all consultant paramedics in the UK in 2013. Thematic analysis and coding were used to analyse the data and identify emergent themes. Additionally, basic demographic data was collected for comparison against national requirements. Findings: The findings illustrated three key themes: credible clinical leadership, an emerging empowered profession, and role expectations. There is a clear indication that consultant paramedics are a key part of clinical leadership for the paramedic profession. However, they are challenged to remain clinically competent by undertaking regular clinical practice and providing visible leadership on the ground, while strategically taking the profession forward. Operational resistance and power issues were highlighted as some of the problems faced by these clinical leaders. Implications: The findings may prove useful for employers in reviewing their clinical leadership structures, and in workforce planning for future consultant paramedics. The paramedic profession and its professional body may equally find this study useful for informing future strategic planning.

Beyond centre-periphery: qasbahs and Muslim life in South Asia

Qasbahs (small towns or large villages) have the dubious distinction of being at the heart of South Asian Islamic history and yet lying on the margins of historiography. It is almost impossible to imagine the central aspects of South Asian Islam without due acknowledgement to qasbahs and the qasbatis, their residents. From the Aligarh Movement and the Deoband madrasa to the development of an extensive body of Urdu literature, qasbahs provided not only the rank and file but also crucial leadership. While scholars concur on this fact, qasbahs and qasbati Muslims continue to fall outside of the academic purview. Addressing this lacuna, this article seeks to bring in qasbahs to the heart of debates by arguing that the various institutions and intellectual output of qasbahs were central, not peripheral, to Indo-Muslim life in South Asia. It discusses the evolution of qasbahs and focuses on Chaudhary Muhammad Ali (1882–1959) of the qasbah of Rudauli, a paragon of the learned and literary tradition of the qasbahs. Chaudhary Muhammad Ali, a quintessential qasbati intellectual, has left volumes of writings in Urdu, many of which are being consulted and written about for the first time. A reformer, writer, religious scholar, and activist, his association with the Progressive Writers’ Association in its opening days, alongside the likes of Prem Chand and Sajjad Zaheer, speaks of his recognition in the wider circle of writers in South Asia. Because of his many contributions, as those of his qasbati peers, a discussion of him not only brings to the fore the imaginary of the qasbahs, but also further enriches and complicates the discussion on the centres and margins in South Asian Islam.

Strategic Alliance Project Expands Leaders' Influence

Strategic Alliance Project Expands Leaders' Influence

Teaching students leadership skills

The Learning to Lead project teaches students crucial leadership skills. After visiting two of the first schools to adopt the scheme, Professor Sir Tim Brighouse discusses the importance of student involvement in school life.

Governments under influence: Country interactions in discretionary fiscal policy

We investigate the interactions between countries, and their effect on the discretionary (i.e. the cyclically-adjusted and interest-adjusted) components of national fiscal policies, observing and investigating the parts of public spending and tax receipts over which governments retain full discretion. Our sample includes 18 OECD countries for the period 1974–2008. First, we construct a measure of a discretionary fiscal policy from the residual component in a VAR model. We then compute this measure for the full sample. Using these data, we next run estimations of the discretionary fiscal policy interactions among the countries in the sample. Our results show that public decisions are affected by interactions between neighbor countries, neighborhood being defined by economic leadership as well as geography. We found evidence of opportunistic behavior by OECD country governments in relation to discretionary public spending. Finally, our estimation results reveal the crucial leadership role played by the USA in relation to discretionary fiscal policy decisions in Europe.

Leading virtual teams: how do social, cognitive, and behavioral capabilities matter?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a research framework that identifies crucial leadership capabilities pertaining to the different lifecycle stages of a virtual team (VT). More specifically, the framework seeks to identify and explain the role of social, cognitive, and behavioral capabilities as important determinants of effective VT leadership and success.Design/methodology/approachThis article provides an overview of literature on VT leadership, categorizes leadership capabilities, and relates the capabilities to various stages of VT life‐cycle. A research analysis is undertaken to depict the proposed relationships.FindingsThe propositions demonstrate that for effective VT leadership to happen it is important to understand the specific set of capabilities that contributes to successful management of a particular VT stage.Social implicationsVT leaders' application of appropriate capabilities may result in the development of greater levels of tolerance toward cultural, temporal and geographic diversity that exists among VT members and leaders. Such tolerance may actually help improve worker satisfaction, cohesiveness among team members, and promote better work‐life balance – outcomes that are beneficial to society. In addition, more effective and successful VT leadership will lead to better VT performance and organizational success – suggesting positive social impact.Originality/valueResearch relating to VT leadership has been limited. With the usage of VTs predicted to gain more importance in the future there is a greater need to understand how specific leadership capabilities contribute to the successful management and development of VTs. This study fills the void in the extant literature by exploring the specific leadership capabilities and by analyzing their relative influence and relationships with VT lifecycle stages.

The professional learning community as subversive activity: countering the culture of conventional schooling

As the professional learning community (PLC) as a desired cultural norm gains popularity within K–12 state schools, greater knowledge of the PLC implementation process is warranted. This study reports findings from semi‐structured focus group interviews with teachers in an urban/suburban high school after one year of schoolwide professional development introducing the PLC as a schoolwide practice. Three findings emerge. First, PLC practices are countercultural to mainstream teacher practice. School leaders and external change agents introducing PLCs in mainstream schools must, therefore, approach the work not as a technical task but as cultural transformation. Second, group facilitation skill is a crucial leadership attribute for the effective cultivation of a PLC. Third, to be effective, PLC cultivation must be perceived not as an end‐to‐itself, but as the means to a clearly identified, shared, and compelling goal for student learning; otherwise, it risks being dismissed by teachers as the usual professional development noise.

Six crucial leadership competencies for an era of downsizing

Six crucial leadership competencies for an era of downsizing

グローバルＣＯＥを活用した国際的博士人材育成の実例

The activities of Tohoku University Global COE Program “World Center of Education and Research for Trans-disciplinary Flow Dynamics”, particularly, the comprehensive and unique methodology to educate Doctoral Course students to acquire crucial leadership for handling multi-national academic and technology projects, are discussed.

Women leaders: how to help them “hit the ground running”

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to look the development of women leadership.Design/methodology/approachThe paper looks at how organizations can help women at crucial leadership transition stages.FindingsThe paper finds that the first months in any leadership challenge can be both exiting and vulnerable. Used well, it is an unparalleled opportunity to accelerate success and create long‐term positive momentum.Originality/valueThe paper provides useful suggestions for supporting women in the leadership transition.

A Plea for Greater Recognition and Appreciation of our Group Members’ Courage

Courage–a mental act that involves a decision to face and deal with emotional pain as honestly as possible without any guarantee of a positive outcome–resides at the heart of the therapeutic alliance and the work of psychodynamic group therapy. The author’s experience suggests that group therapists tend to take for granted or underestimate the courage required to join and participate in a psychodynamic therapy group. Written from the perspective of self-psychology, this article provides a theoretical rationale for courage recognition as a central and crucial leadership function. Examples of courage are presented and contrasted with behaviors that appear courageous but are not. A detailed case example discusses the courage it takes for dyads to work through reciprocal negative transferences. Suggestions are offered to assist the group therapist in recognizing and calling attention to courageous behaviors.The author discusses some of the pitfalls of our profession’s preference for value–free language and then shows how and why the occasional and judicious use of non–neutral language, courage being an example, can facilitate and deepen group work.

Spiritual values and practices related to leadership effectiveness

This review of over 150 studies shows that there is a clear consistency between spiritual values and practices and effective leadership. Values that have long been considered spiritual ideals, such as integrity, honesty, and humility, have been demonstrated to have an effect on leadership success. Similarly, practices traditionally associated with spirituality as demonstrated in daily life have also been shown to be connected to leadership effectiveness. All of the following practices have been emphasized in many spiritual teachings, and they have also been found to be crucial leadership skills: showing respect for others, demonstrating fair treatment, expressing caring and concern, listening responsively, recognizing the contributions of others, and engaging in reflective practice.

Leadership Across Cultures: Attachment Style Influences

As organizations are challenged to global leadership competence and to manage increasing diversity, it is critical to select and develop effective cross-cultural leaders. Technical competence and organizational experience are inadequate criteria; among the most crucial leadership characteristics are relationship competence and openness to new perspectives. These are difficult to train or develop in leaders because they derive from personal relationship tendencies called attachment styles, based on relatively enduring assumptions about self and others. Attachment styles affect work relationships and, thus, cross-cultural leadership effectiveness, and need to be considered by managers and their organizations in leadership selection and development programs.

Chief Executive Success in the Legislative Arena

AbstractAmerican chief executives are popularly believed to play a crucial leadership role in the legislative process, but this role is not well understood by scholars. This article develops a model of executive leadership success in the legislative arena based on personal, institutional, political, and economic factors and tests that model with data on the legislative priorities of the 50 state governors in 1993-94. Institutional features of the executive, which have been the focus of much scholarship, are found to have little effect on a governor's legislative success. On the other hand, the nature of the legislature is quite important here, with more professional legislatures actually encouraging executive leadership. A governor's personal characteristics, political party, and a state's economy also influence a governor's legislative success. These findings point to the importance of examining chief executives in the context in which they work if we are to understand their role as legislative leader.

Japan's Role in the East Asian Political Economy: From Crisis to Bloc?

The role of Japan in the East Asian political economy has been to gradually reintegrate the region by deploying a range of economic means. Although at the time of the East Asian crisis some commentators saw the fragmentation of the region as a likely outcome, the intervening years have rather demonstrated that the greater integration of the region has been the result. Japan has played a crucial leadership role in promoting regional integration. In the wake of the crisis, this has been manifest as both short- and longer-term responses, with the Japanese government offering immediate financial support to the affected economies, as well as technical and other assistance on softer conditionalities than the International Monetary Fund. Over the longer term, Japan has put forward policies to promote the internationalization of the yen, seeking to increase its use for regional trade. It has also moved away from a sole commitment to ‘open regionalism’ by holding negotiations on Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Singapore and other countries. The article concludes that, although Japan has indeed played a crucial leadership role in promoting regional integration, the continuing importance of relations with the United States and Europe means a regional ‘bloc’ is unlikely to emerge in the foreseeable future.