Executive Leadership Roles Research Articles

The value of health service-based research to health service organisations: a qualitative study with senior health service executives

BackgroundResearch evidence has demonstrably improved health care practices and patient outcomes. However, systemic translation of evidence into practice is far from optimal. The reasons are complex, but often because research is not well aligned with health service priorities. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of senior health service executives on two issues: (1) the alignment between local research activity and the needs and priorities of their health services, and (2) the extent to which research is or can be integrated as part of usual health care practice.MethodsIn this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior health leaders from four large health service organisations that are members of Sydney Health Partners (SHP), one of Australia’s nationally accredited research translation centres committed to accelerating the translation of research findings into evidence-based health care. The interviews were conducted between November 2022 and January 2023, and were either audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim or recorded in the interviewer field notes. A thematic analysis of the interview data was conducted by two researchers, using the framework method to identify common themes.ResultsSeventeen health executives were interviewed, including chief executives, directors of medical services, nursing, allied health, research, and others in executive leadership roles. Responses to issue (1) included themes on re-balancing curiosity- and priority-driven research; providing more support for research activity within health organisations; and helping health professionals and researchers discuss researchable priorities. Responses to issue (2) included identification of elements considered essential for embedding research in health care; and the need to break down silos between research and health care, as well as within health organisations.ConclusionsHealth service leaders value research but want more research that aligns with their needs and priorities. Discussions with researchers about those priorities may need some facilitation. Making research a more integrated part of health care will require strong and broad executive leadership, resources and infrastructure, and investing in capacity- and capability-building across health clinicians, managers and executive staff.

Chief executive officer’s dark triad personality and firm's degree of internationalization: The mediating role of ambidexterity

This study empirically examines the relationships among CEOs’ dark triad personality (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism), ambidexterity, and firms’ internationalization behavior. Dark triad personality traits have attracted growing attention in the fields of psychology and organizational behavior due to their influence on individual decision-making, particularly by individuals in executive leadership roles. We extend research on dark triad personality to international business (IB) and examine the link between IB decision-makers’ personality traits and firms’ IB outcomes. Our research highlights the complex dynamics shaping firm internationalization, with both the CEO’s dark triad personality and ambidexterity playing significant roles in driving firm internationalization outcomes. An analysis of 405 firms from the United Kingdom and the United States reveals that ambidexterity partially mediates the relationship between dark triad personality and the degree of internationalization and that firms pursuing internationalization may benefit from CEOs with a dark triad personality.

Overcoming Career Advancement Barriers to Executive Leadership Roles of Nurses From Racial and Ethnic Minority Backgrounds

There is underrepresentation of nurses with racial and ethnic minority backgrounds in executive nursing leadership positions as compared with the general population. The management problem is that even when academically prepared, nurses with racial and ethnic minority backgrounds perceive that they face both singular and systemic barriers to promotional opportunities to executive nurse positions. A literature gap exists as to why this phenomenon persists. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study was to explore the personal stories and lived experiences of executive nurses with racial and ethnic minority backgrounds concerning the barriers they faced and overcame on their pathway to an executive leadership position. The conceptual framework combined the intersectionality of race and internal and external capabilities. Data collected through semistructured interviews underwent a 3-dimensional-space narrative structure and thematic analysis process. Eleven themes in 3 major categories emerged: (a) facing the challenges; (b) overcoming barriers; and (c) where my help came from. The social change implications include new knowledge for multiple stakeholders in supporting and developing nurses from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds to assist them in achieving executive nursing leadership positions, thereby increasing the number of these nurses in executive roles.

Transforming healthcare leadership: Integrating sponsorship ideals into pipeline development

Black women,1 Hispanic women2 and other traditionally marginalised workers tend to be concentrated in the most labour-intensive, lowest-paid jobs in healthcare, underscoring the need for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by health and hospital systems to include a significant focus on creating pipelines and pathways for professional advancement within administration and executive leadership roles. University of Chicago Medicine (UCM), a leading research hospital system, recently launched a pilot sponsorship programme, designed by members of an employee resource group for women of colour, to increase exposure to growth opportunities for women employees of colour and to elevate awareness among white male senior leaders of their workplace experiences. By establishing a structured, professionally mediated and metrics-backed sponsorship programme pilot, UCM was able to formally support a process through which hospital leaders were: (1) made aware of the effect of structural racism on their workforce and workplace; and (2) given the tools and directives necessary to transform their own views on allyship and convert them into tangible actions to increase visibility and opportunities for women of colour within the pilot. The broader objective of this initiative and others like it is to increase Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) diversity representation among senior leaders at UCM from 28 per cent in FY2023 to 35 per cent in FY2025, reflecting the hospital’s vision to have more leaders who are representative of the community in which the hospital serves on Chicago’s South Side.

Offering Support and Staying Inspired: An Interview With Maureen Swick.

This year, Maureen Swick, PhD, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, received the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors an AONL member recognized by the nursing community as a significant leader in the nursing profession who has served AONL in an important leadership capacity. Swick served as chair of the AONL Board of Directors and AONL CEO/American Hospital Association chief nursing officer. She has held executive leadership roles at several health systems and now is enterprise senior vice president of nursing and pharmacy at Atrium Health, Charlotte, North Carolina. This is an abridged version of an interview conducted by AONL CEO Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, at the AONL annual conference in San Antonio in April 2022. Dr Swick also responded to questions from the audience.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Views of Women from the Second‐Wave Feminist Movement

AbstractThis is a qualitative study of the career perspectives of early female leaders in Canada whose careers emerged from the second‐wave feminist movement and who ascended to executive leadership positions. Using a discourse analytic lens, we analyze their perspectives on women's limited presence in executive leadership roles. The research participants suggested that women lacked the necessary resilience or personality; women lacked requisite political skills; affirmative action policies have hindered women's career advancement; and women have been unable to put their careers over family in the way that is required for executive leadership. The views expressed by these participants are often contrarian to current thinking about gender and leadership but underline the gendered nature of persistent barriers to executive leadership past and present.

Leading in Tech: How Can Women Negotiate the Labyrinth to the C-Suite?

Two years into the pandemic, we find that women have made gains in representation in senior leadership (McKinsey/Leanin 2021). Yet, these are hard fought gains where women need to strategically position themselves for executive leadership roles and successfully manage career transitions. In this panel, hear from technology industry veterans & CEOs as they debate the best ways to position oneself and grow into a more strategic role; how to leverage functional expertise in general management; and whether to adopt a “captain or coach” leadership approach.

The Trump Administration and the COVID-19 crisis: Exploring the warning-response problems and missed opportunities of a public health emergency.

This article examines the Trump Administration's inability to mount a timely and effective response to the COVID‐19 outbreak, despite ample warning. Through an empirical exploration guided by three explanatory perspectives—psychological, bureau‐organizational, and agenda‐political—developed from the strategic surprise, public administration, and crisis management literature, the authors seek to shed light on the mechanisms that contributed to the underestimation of the coronavirus threat by the Trump Administration and the slow and mismanaged federal response. The analysis highlights the extent to which the factors identified by previous studies of policy surprise and failure in other security domains are relevant for health security. The paper concludes by addressing the crucial role of executive leadership as an underlying factor in all three perspectives and discussing why the US president is ultimately responsible for ensuring a healthy policy process to guard against the pathologies implicated in the federal government's sub‐optimal response to the COVID‐19 crisis.

MENTORING AS A MEDIATING FACTOR FOR EFFICACIOUS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of leadership development as experienced by non-government organization (NGO) executive leaders in international agricultural development. Data were collected from twelve executive NGO leaders through in-depth interviews to understand the textural and structural essences of the participants’ lived experiences of leadership development. Findings indicated the integral role of mentoring in leadership development prior to obtaining an executive leadership role and supported the conceptual model inclusive of mentoring as a mediating factor of efficacious leadership development. The study provided implications and future research recommendations for executive leaders in international agricultural development, as well as for leadership educators and practitioners.

Black Male Executives in Higher Education: The Experience of Ascending the Academic Leadership Ladder

The ProblemThe current pipeline supplying qualified and competent leaders to the upper ranks of higher education appears to prelimit the number of Black males who reach executive status. Even though many universities and colleges remain resolute in increasing diversity, social, and structural barriers block access and restrict executive development. This study focuses on the leadership and career advancement of Black male executive leaders in predominantly White institutions (PWI’s) of higher education.The SolutionThis qualitative, phenomenological examination of the lived experiences of 10 Black male, executive leaders in predominantly White institutions of higher education describes what it is like for them to persist in their leadership roles despite negative experiences that are related to their social identity. The findings reveal how their existence in racialized environments has impacted their leadership approach and the trajectory of their careers.The StakeholdersThe stakeholders are Black academics seeking or holding executive leadership roles in higher education; HRD scholars and practitioners.

Life Course and Gender: Unpacking Women’s Thoughts About Access to the Superintendency

Abstract The current study utilizes feminist life course theory to examine the perspectives of women who have aspired or have entered into the superintendency in the United States. Life course theory suggests that our choices about careers are often founded upon “role histories” - near instantaneous responses to the social cues of our external world. Consequently, it offers opportunity to understand how patterns of socialization may impact real-life decisions over career possibilities (and impossibilities) and the historical conditions in which career decisions are made. Using survey responses from current and aspiring female superintendents (n=133), we engaged in descriptive statistical analyses. These findings were further contextualized through the four principles of life course theory, historical time and place, timing in lives, linked lives, and human agency. Our findings indicate women’s perspectives on the accessibility of the superintendency have shifted as narratives around women’s executive leadership roles have also changed. Importantly, the women in this study view accessibility to the superintendency as a largely contingent decision - a strategic, individual-level assessment focusing on the favorability of district work conditions to their success as leaders. Simultaneously, we see where issues of social networking, leadership “tapping”, and district “fit” emerge as normative expectations for accessing leadership roles as well as the preferred conditions upon which such choices are made. This reflects an encouraging perspective shift in which women are focusing less on “feasibility” than on “fit”. . Recommendations for practice are provided.

State Health Officials: Backgrounds and Qualifications.

State health officials (SHOs), the executive and administrative leaders of state public health, play a key role in policy development, must be versed in the relevant/current evidence, and provide expertise about health issues to the legislature and the governor. To provide an empirical examination of SHO backgrounds and qualifications over time. Cross-sectional survey of current/former SHOs. State health official educational backgrounds; public health experience; previous employment setting. Two-thirds of respondents (64.6%) reported having a medical degree, approximately half (48.3%) a formal public health degree, and almost one-quarter (21.8%) a management degree. The majority had governmental public health experience at some prior point in their career (70.0%). Almost two-thirds worked in governmental public health immediately before becoming an SHO. The proportion that was female increased significantly by decade from 5.6% in the 1970s/80s to 46.4% in the 2010s (P = .02). The main finding from this study shows that more than two-thirds of SHOs have had governmental public health experience at some point in their career. This is not a new trend as there were no statistical differences in public health experience by decade. More than half of the SHOs were appointed to the role directly from governmental public health, indicating that their public health experience is timely and likely germane to their appointment as SHO. Findings also indicate improvements in gender diversity among one of the most influential leadership roles in governmental public health whereas significant changes in racial and ethnic diversity were not identified. Women are increasingly being appointed as SHOs, indicating increasing gender diversity in this influential position. Given that governmental public health employees are predominantly women, there is still room for gender equity improvements in executive leadership roles. This is coupled with the need for further racial and ethnic diversity improvements as well.

Gender and the CMO: do the differences make a difference?

ABSTRACT Despite efforts to address the lack of female representation in executive leadership roles, the number of women in leadership roles is still low in comparison to men. Data in the form of online interviews were collected for a sample of 69 CMOs from the World’s Most Influential CMO’s report by Forbes Magazine and analyzed using the automated text analysis software, LIWC, employing the dimensions of Analytic, Clout, Authentic, and Tone. A series of ANOVAs was conducted to determine the impact of gender on these dimensions. Clout and Authentic were significantly impacted by the gender of the CMO. The paper considers two gender communication theories that could potentially explain these differences. The paper concludes by discussing managerial implications, acknowledging the limitations, and identifying avenues for future research.

Effective strategic planning in Australian universities: how good are we and how do we know?1

ABSTRACTStrategic planning was introduced to Australian universities as part of the Commonwealth Government higher education reforms of 1988. The ‘Dawkins Reforms’ implemented extensive structural reform, changed executive leadership roles and responsibilities, commenced the ‘managerialisation’ of the Australian university sector, introduced the Higher Education Contribution Scheme and facilitated the transformation of Australian universities from collegial academies to modern, ‘enterprise’ universities.There is an abundance of published marketing material celebrating ‘effective’ strategic planning outcomes in the myriad of strategic plans published by Australian universities. Yet, a recent study indicates that strategic planning remains a contested internal leadership function in Australian universities almost 30 years after traditional academic planning was replaced with commercially-focused strategic planning. This paper will review the effectiveness of strategic planning practices in Australian universities guided by the rhetorical question: ‘how good are we and how do we know?’

Walking the talk: An exploratory examination of executive leadership communication at startups in China

ABSTRACTThis study explored the under-researched topic of leadership communication in the context of startup companies in China. Specifically, this study examined the role of executive leadership in shaping corporate culture and leadership communication purposes, strategies, and channels in startups. Findings were derived through 25 in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs in China, and they suggested that 5 major corporate culture types are prevalent and can coexist at startups, including innovation/adventure, openness, inclusiveness/participation, supportiveness, and aggressiveness/competitiveness. The character and management style of startup leaders shape the culture of the organization. Leadership communication serves various internal and external purposes at the informational, motivational, and behavioral levels. Symmetrical, transparent, authentic, and visionary communications are found to be effective leadership communication strategies at startups. Startup leaders overall prefer using face-to-face communication and mobile social messengers (e.g., WeChat) to communicate with internal and external stakeholders, followed by email and phone. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Gail E. Latimer, MSN, RN, FACHE, FAAN

Gail E. Latimer, MSN, RN, FACHE, FAAN

Elements of success for transitioning to the role of director of pharmacy.

Assimilating into a new pharmacy executive leadership role presents challenges and opportunities. It is imperative that the pharmacy management practitioner (PMP) understand and have a thoughtful plan inclusive of critical leadership success strategies and effective deployment tactics to assume the

Assessing the CPRS Pathways to the Profession competency framework

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to assess the leadership skills and competencies defined in the Pathways to the Profession and understand the value senior corporate communications managers place on those skills and competencies and how senior-level corporate communicators demonstration of those skills and competencies.Design/methodology/approach– Institutional review board approval was obtained for a qualitative research design based on focus groups conducted in four Canadian cities with 25 senior corporate communicators, human resources professionals, and general business managers.Findings– This research has validated the competencies and credentials for senior-level corporate communications and public relations executives as highlighted in the Pathways to the Profession framework. It has also provided the profession with an understanding of the value senior public relations and organizational managers place on professional association membership and professional and academic credentials. This research is an important contribution to the growing body of knowledge on competency frameworks as professional associations, such as the Canadian Public Relations Society, take leadership positions in providing educational institutions with sets of standards for public relations and corporate communications education in Canada.Practical implications– This research will help the public relations and corporate communications profession provide guidance to educational institutions programming for senior-level public relations and communications management education based on quantifiable data on the value executives place on a particular set of skills and competencies.Originality/value– This is the first study of its kind that examines the perceived competencies and skills of Canadian senior public relations/communications management leadership. Further this research sought to assess the value of academic and professional credentials necessary for participation in executive leadership roles.

Leadership Transitions and the First 90 Days

This department highlights change management strategies that may be successful in strategically planning and executing organizational change initiatives. In this article, the author discusses leadership role transitions and provides a framework for successfully navigating the crucial 1st 90 days in an executive leadership role.

Applying a capital perspective to explain continued gender inequality in the C-suite

Women are still not progressing into executive, CEO or board roles in substantial numbers. We argue that gendered forces operating at societal, organizational, and individual levels inhibit the accumulation of valuable career capital. These forces, typically in combination across a variety of contexts in the life-cycle, create substantial and cumulative limitations upon the ability of women to access and to accumulate the capital required to progress into executive roles in firms. We define this valuable capital for the role of the senior executive and explore the timing and interplay of critical forces that limit the acquisition and development of valuable capital for women. In particular, it is proposed that these forces can be mitigated by the corporate elite who, as board chairs and CEOs, can enhance the ability of middle and senior female managers to access and to acquire the additional valuable career capital required to progress to executive leadership roles.