Implicit Leadership Research Articles

Leader prototypicality in sport: The implicit leadership theories of women and men entering sport management careers

Implicit leadership theories (ILTs) matter because they are used as the benchmark against which people determine who is a leader and who is not. This assessment informs their behavioral responses. People are thought to have a superordinate-level ILT representing their prototypical mental model of leadership and a series of basic-level ILTs. Each of these represents how people conceptualize leadership in particular domains (e.g., sport, politics, and popular culture). In this study, the authors generate the structures of basic-level sport management ILTs for women and men who are about to enter this industry. These form the baseline from which socialization to work, organizational cultures, and the sport management industry begins. The ILTs of women entering sport management careers have a 35-item, 6-factor structure (Sensitivity, Knowledgeable, Physical Attractiveness, Inspirational, Dedication, and Focused), whereas men entering the industry have a 32-item, 7-factor structure (Sensitivity, Dedication, Physical Attractiveness, Focused, Creativity, Inspirational, Courageous). The resulting sport management ILT profiles differ from superordinate ones by emphasizing physical and vitality attributes, incorporating emotional elements, and by eschewing antiprototypical elements. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications for leadership research in sport management.

Roots Run Deep: How Parental Styles Influence Employees’ Acceptance of Different Leadership Styles

Whether employees accept or endorse certain types of leadership is rooted in their childhood interaction with parents. Drawing on implicit leadership theory and parental styles literature, we propo...

Rate my Professor: Implicit Leadership Theories in Academia

Followers’ implicit leadership theories (ILTs) are core to understanding how leaders are described and as how effective they are perceived. While much is understood about ILTs in the business conte...

An Analysis of Implicit Leadership Theories and Explicit Behavior Within Religious Organizations

This paper explores the relationship between leaders and followers by investigating the level of congruence between the implicit leadership theories of leaders and followers, and the actual behavior of leaders across three hierarchical levels. By investigating religious organizations, we are able to identify contextual factors, which have not been explored in much detail. Applying a qualitative case study method, we conducted 34 semi-structured interviews in the Church of England and found gaps between perceived and actual leadership behavior which we explain by analyzing institutional, organizational (e.g., vacuums in leadership) and individual factors. We contribute to the literature of implicit leadership theory by identifying leadership attributes such as the ability to help others to flourish to be highly relevant in explaining the relationship between leaders and followers in a religious setting. Our research has substantial research and practical implications for the recruitment and training of Church leaders and followers.

University leaders’ talk about institutional missions and academic developers’ contributions

There are increasing external pressures on 21st-century universities to be engines of economic recovery and growth. In this rapidly altering landscape, how university senior leaders articulate the purpose of university education and the contribution of academic developers to fulfil these education purposes is a matter of empirical interest. Senior leaders and academic developers have particular responsibilities since they impact educational quality at an institutional level. Senior leaders are responsible for orienting their institutions, giving direction to colleagues in the process, while their implicit leadership theories animate effort and interactions. Academic developers are employed to provide educational programmes for academics to develop their pedagogical competence, and are increasingly deployed by university leaders to implement new quality assurance systems. Such responsibilities strongly suggest agency and relative autonomy to forge new alliances and collaborative networks where these did not previously exist; they are simultaneously required to be leaders and followers. Consequently, the portfolios of academic developers have expanded exponentially, strategically walking a tightrope between the potentially coercive message of strategic missions and the relative autonomy of academic staff, brokering new horizons of university education in a collegial, collaborative and horizontal manner. The paper captures the dynamics of leading education in four universities: the brokering responsibilities of academic developers.

Leadership through love and fear: an effective combination

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how employees’ sentiments of fear and companionate love toward their leaders relate to leader effectiveness and follower loyalty. Design/methodology/approach The analysis uses multi-level survey data (n=728) from a professional services firm. Proposed relationships are examined using multi-level modeling, polynomial regression and response surface analysis. Findings Companionate love moderates the relationship between fear of a leader and leader effectiveness and follower loyalty. At high levels of companionate love, leader effectiveness and loyalty increase with fear, but at low levels of companionate love, fear negatively relates to leader effectiveness and loyalty. There are diminishing returns at relatively high levels of love and fear or when love becomes relatively much greater than fear. Research limitations/implications Findings suggest that employees may incorporate sentiments of love and fear into their implicit leadership theories (ILTs), though the authors do not measure ILTs. Practical implications Leaders may consider incorporating behaviors that elicit sentiments of both love and fear for greatest follower loyalty and effectiveness. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the combination of sentiments of love and fear. In contrast to the extant literature, which posits that fear has primarily negative effects, the results suggest that fear may have a more nuanced relationship with perceptions of the leader.

Eliciting the True Self: The Effects of Doctoral Education on Students’ Implicit Leadership Theories and Authentic Leader Identity Development

The essence of authentic leadership is alignment of actions with an identity grounded in the “true self.” Theoretically, achieving such alignment requires self-awareness of discrepancies between current leadership capacity and elements of aspirational identity. Using personal constructs psychology, this study explores evidence that doctoral education serves as a catalyst for developing authentic leader identity. Repertory grid technique was used to elicit the implicit leadership theories of students enrolled in their first and final Leadership Core courses in an interdisciplinary doctoral program. Data analysis revealed significant differences in the complexity and integration, but not differentiation of leader identity.

Investigating Leader Role Congruity and Counterproductive Work Behavior

The present study sought to examine the role of fulfilled vs. unfulfilled expectations in work-related and non-work domains. Specifically, we examined how congruence and incongruence between implicit leadership theories across multiple categories of leaders (typical, ideal, and effective leaders) and characteristics recognized on one’s supervisor affect leader-member exchange (LMX), work-family conflict, and subsequent counter-productive work behavior. We tested our hypotheses using polynomial regression and response surface modeling. The results of this study showed that congruence between implicit leadership theories (ILT’s) of typical, ideal, and effective leaders and supervisor recognition, as well as incongruity between ILT’s of ideal leaders and characteristics recognized in one’s supervisor, significantly impacts perceived LMX quality with supervisors. Incongruity between ILT’s of typical and ideal leaders and supervisor recognition was also associated with higher ratings of work-family conflict (WFC). Finally, the results showed support for a significant indirect effect of congruence between ILTs of typical and ideal leaders and characteristics recognized in one’s supervisor on CWB through WFC. These results add meaningful depth to literature on congruent implicit theories in two ways: (a) we add to existing knowledge of outcomes associated with congruence on ILT’s, and, (b) we examine these associations using ILT’s across multiple categories of leaders. Implications are also discussed.

Psychometric Properties of the Service Leadership Attitude Scale in Hong Kong.

Positive attitude to service leadership is fundamental for the development of successful leadership qualities in the service-dominated economy. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the 46-item Service Leadership Attitude Scale (SLA) in Hong Kong. A total of 2,240 undergraduate students in Hong Kong (mean age = 20.44±1.64 years; 66.9% were female) completed a questionnaire containing the 46-item SLA and other leadership-related scales. The psychometric properties of SLA were assessed using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), reliability analyses, measurement invariance tests, and convergent validity test. Previous exploratory factor analyses suggested a seven-factor model of SLA which was supported by CFA in this study. By adding an additional dimension (“Implicit leadership theory”) in the scale, the final eight-factor model with 46 items showed superior fit using CFA. Factorial invariance tests showed that the factor structure was invariant in terms of construct dimensionality, factor loadings, intercepts, and factor covariance across gender and subgroups split based on “odd” and “even” case numbers. Convergent validity tests showed that the scale scores were correlated with several leadership-related scales. The scale and subscales also demonstrated good internal consistency reliability. This study is the first scientific work to validate a measure of attitude to service leadership via CFA. It contributes significantly to the development and validation of measures of attitude to service leadership, particularly in the higher education sector.

Leader–follower pessimism (in)congruence and job satisfaction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the (in)congruence of leaders’ and followers’ cognitive characteristics (i.e. pessimism), followers’ identification with a leader and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachData from 291 working professionals are analyzed, following a series of hierarchical linear modeling and mediated polynomial regression analyses.FindingsPolynomial regression analysis results indicate that alignment (congruence) between leaders’ pessimism and followers’ pessimism, when both are at high levels, is related to low levels of job satisfaction. Further, leader–follower congruence at lower levels of pessimism leads to high levels of job satisfaction through the mediator of followers’ perceived identification with a leader.Originality/valueBy identifying (in)congruence of leader–follower pessimism as a key antecedent, and taking an explanatory mechanism of identification with a leader into account, the authors contribute to disentangling the conceptual paths that underlie the mode by which implicit leadership theory might explain instances of individual job satisfaction.

A Study of the Mechanism of the Congruence of Leader-Follower Power Distance Orientation on Employees' Task Performance.

Based on implicit leadership theory, we examine the congruence effect of leader–follower power distance orientation (PDO) on follower trust in supervisor and work engagement, which in turn influences employees’ task performance. Results of polynomial regressions on 526 dyads supported the congruence effect hypothesis. The results show that (1) the congruence of leader–follower PDO leads to better performance; (2) under the condition of congruence, subordinate task performance is higher when leader–follower PDO matching in low–low ratings congruence than it is in high–high ratings congruence; (3) under the condition of asymmetrical incongruence, the follower had higher task performance when a leader’s PDO is lower than a follower’s PDO; (4) trust in supervisor and the work engagement mediate the effect of congruence of leader–follower PDO on employees’ task performance; (5) trust in supervisor also mediates the effect of congruence of leader–follower PDO on employees’ work engagement.

Consequences of Cultural Leadership Styles for Social Entrepreneurship: A Theoretical Framework

The purpose of this conceptual article is to understand how the interplay of national-level institutions of culturally endorsed leadership styles, government effectiveness, and societal trust affects individual likelihood to become social entrepreneurs. We present an institutional framework comprising cultural leadership styles (normative institutions), government effectiveness (regulatory institutions), and societal trust (cognitive institutions) to predict individual likelihood of social entrepreneurship. Using the insight of culture–entrepreneurship fit and drawing on institutional configuration perspective we posit that culturally endorsed implicit leadership theories (CLTs) of charismatic and participatory leadership positively impact the likelihood of individuals becoming social entrepreneurs. Further, we posit that this impact is particularly pronounced when a country’s regulatory quality manifested by government effectiveness is supportive of social entrepreneurship and when there exist high levels of societal trust. Research on CLTs and their impact on entrepreneurial behavior is limited. We contribute to comparative entrepreneurship research by introducing a cultural antecedent of social entrepreneurship in CLTs and through a deeper understanding of their interplay with national-level institutions to draw the boundary conditions of our framework.

Shades of grey in implicit effective leadership: Searching for clarity in the midst of paradox

In this paper, we extend research on implicit leadership theories by exploring and clarifying the content and structure of effective leader prototypes. We invited 78 Chinese and 50 American busines...

Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and affective organizational commitment: a closer look at their relationships in two distinct national contexts

This study compared the relationship between leadership style and affective organizational commitment (AOC) for Korean and U.S. employees, based on path-goal leadership theory and culturally endorsed implicit leadership theory. The results showed that the positive relationship between transformational leadership and AOC was stronger for U.S. employees than their Korean counterparts, whereas transactional leadership was positively related to AOC only for Korean employees. Also, we tested Bass’s (Leadership and performance beyond expectations, Free Press, New York, 1985) augmentation effect and House’s (Leadersh Q 7(3):323–352, 1996) negative moderating effect of the two leadership styles. Interestingly, our results differed from theirs in this cross-national context. The findings provide important theoretical and managerial implications.

Cultural configurations and entrepreneurial realisation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to better understand the connection between culture and entrepreneurship in proposing and testing complex configurations of culturally endorsed implicit leadership theories (CLTs) and cultural practices that lead to entrepreneurial behaviour by studying entrepreneurial intentions (EI) and early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) separately. Design/methodology/approach Using data from Globe Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) studies, a sample of 44 countries, and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, several models for EI and TEA were developed. Findings The main findings provide a way of distinguishing between complex antecedent conditions that are required for each stage of the entrepreneurial realisation. The results empirically show that there is no ideal context – the path to stimulate entrepreneurship that works best for one country does not necessarily works the same for other countries. There are multiple paths to achieve the desired outcome. Research limitations/implications The data from the GLOBE study were not completely up to date, the effect of which was minimised by considering data from GEM that respects temporal ordering. Nevertheless, data from GEM suggest that there is a degree of stability in the data over time. Future research could replicate this study with a larger selection of countries and with new data, collected in a different way. Additionally, the inclusion of CLTs proposed in this study opens new opportunities for future research, by providing a new angle to look at the entrepreneurial realisation process. Practical implications This study advances research into the association of culture and entrepreneurship, and develops testable models using a configurational approach, thus confirming the suitability of asymmetric configuration analysis for entrepreneurial research. The results expand an understanding of the entrepreneurial process by showcasing the different complex antecedent conditions for EI and TEA. Depending on a country’s cultural profile, policy-makers should invest in the dimensions that enable their society to align with the model that best suits their own culture. The obtained models offer a framework for evaluating new interventions that aim to develop entrepreneurial behaviour in a specific country. Originality/value Different configurations showcase that there are alternative paths to achieving high levels of EI and TEA. The differences among the possible configurations for each stage of the entrepreneurial realisation are uncovered. Country profiles are identified, quantified, and then compared providing guidance for policy-makers.

Effective Coordination of Shared Leadership in Global Virtual Teams

In this study we investigate how shared leadership is coordinated in global virtual teams and how it relates to team effectiveness. Based on 71 interviews with team members and leaders from eight teams from two global software development companies, we found that shared leadership had a more positive effect on team effectiveness when shared leadership was coordinated both implicitly and behaviorally. Implicit leadership coordination is about members sharing same perceptions or cognitive schemas regarding who has leadership over what, and influences whether leadership actions are acted upon. With a mix of national cultures in the team, members are less likely to share the same leadership expectations, which may make shared leadership less effective. In turn, behavioral leadership coordination is associated with the explicit actions aimed at coordinating the leadership activities taking place in the team. This behavioral coordination increases in importance with a higher degree of shared leadership. Our findings contribute to theory and practice by showing that when leadership is highly shared in the team and uncoordinated, it may actually lead to detrimental effects in terms of lower team effectiveness. In contrast, shared leadership may reap its potential benefits if it is well coordinated.

Culturally-Endorsed Leadership, Social Cognition, and Entrepreneurial Orientation: An Empirical Inquiry

Entrepreneurial orientation can not only be influenced by leadership, culture, but also through social cognition induced through Job Demands and Resources. Moreover, higher Entrepreneurial orientation could further lead to job satisfaction. These intricate relationships were never explored before. Therefore, we proposed a theoretical framework combining (Stephan & Pathak, 2016) and (Ralph Kattenbach, 2018) models, and modifying them to include the concept of Job satisfaction. Stephan & Pathak (2016) investigated the impact of Culturally-endorsed Implicit Leadership Theories (CLT) on individual entrepreneurship. CLTs are culture-level concepts build on individual-level implicit leadership theory proposed by (Robert G. Lord, 1991). (Ralph Kattenbach, 2018) modified (Bandura, 1997) social cognitive theory (SCT) to include Entrepreneurial orientation. SCT itself was a modified version of the Job Demands-Resources Model proposed by (Demerouti, 2001). The empirical validity of the proposed theory was established by means of a survey based on a close-ended Likert scale type questionnaire that collected data from 200 corporate sector employees based in Karachi. It was later analyzed using structured equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis. These results showed that both cultural factors i.e. Uncertainty Avoidance and Collectivism have a significant and positive influence on both Self-Protective and Charismatic leadership. However, the effect of leadership on entrepreneurial orientation (EI) was not empirically significant. Similarly, the effect of both social cognitive factors i.e. Job Demand and Job resource on EI was positive and significant. EI and job demand had an insignificant effect on job satisfaction. However, job resource has a significant positive impact. This implies that job resource factors have a direct influence on EI as well as Job Satisfaction. But EI itself has no direct link with the job satisfaction of employees. Hence, measuring and analyzing an organizational culture in combination with its employees’ job demand and resource factors may lead to higher job satisfaction.

Mindfulness - The Missing Link in the Relationship Between Leader-Follower Strategic Optimism (Mis)match and Work Engagement.

Assuming a followership perspective and building on implicit leadership theory, this study examines the mediating role of followers’ mindfulness in the relationship between leader–follower strategic optimism (mis)match and work engagement. Specifically, we propose that a discrepancy between the respective levels of leaders’ and followers’ strategic optimism correlates with low levels of mindfulness and work engagement. A field study of 291 working professionals, using polynomial regression and response surface analysis, supports the (mis)match hypotheses. The results demonstrate that followers’ mindfulness mediates the relationship between leaders’ and followers’ matching levels of strategic optimism (whether at high-high and low-low leader-follower strategic optimism conditions) and work engagement. These findings have important implications for training and the extent to which interventions based on personal resources, such as strategic optimism and therefore mindfulness, foster higher work engagement.

IMPLICIT LEADERSHIP CONCEPT AND REFLECTION TO HEALTH INSTITUTIONS

It is expressed as the person who collects the leader power, who has an impact on all processes of the organization and manages the processes. Implicit leadership emerges when other individuals in the group follow the person they want to see as the leader voluntarily (Eroğluer, 2014, p. 107).The aim of this study is to examine the concept of implicit leadership which is not included in Turkish literature and to shed light on other studies. In addition, as in every institution, it is aimed to address the existing leadership concept in health institutions in terms of implicit leadership. In this study, detailed information about the concept of implicit leadership was given, factors effecting the formation of implicit leadership were taken into consideration, different dimensions of implicit leadership were taken into consideration and implicit leadership was taken into consideration in terms of health institutions.

Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs) and change behaviors: the mediating role of LMX

Capitalizing upon Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs) and Leader-member exchange (LMX), this research aims to explore the relationship between the congruence of employees’ ILTs and those traits of their managers and employees’ supportiveness, resistance and behavioral creativity for change. After distributing three questionnaires at three points among teachers, 296 participants completed all three questionnaires. Having conducted some confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), we utilized Latent Congruence Modeling (LCM) to analyze the final proposed models. The findings showed that the congruence has no direct effects on behavioral change responses. However, LMX can function as a full mediator. LMX has significant relationships with employees’ support and resistance for change. Nevertheless, the path coefficient was non-significant for behavioral creativity to change. This study, therefore, extends prevailing follower-centric perspective on leadership and strengthens its essence in organizational change with fundamental socio-cognitive research.