Informal Leaders Research Articles

Connecting with kindness.

Q After what we've experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, our team has been slow to regain our passion for working with patients and being involved in unit activities that improve the workplace environment and outcomes. How can I help my unit get back to our purpose and passion? You're not alone. Many are struggling with the next steps to recognize and deal with the emotional and physical toll of the pandemic. Many have focused on helping nurses regain their strength through resilience programs, but some nurses reject the idea that they just need to know how to be resilient and are resistant to those approaches. As leaders, we can feel at a loss about what to do. Promoting kindness in the workplace may be one answer to reviving our passion for nursing. Kindness—showing deep interest in and concern for others—is linked to improved employee satisfaction, an overall sense of well-being, and reduced attrition rates.1 As part of Human-Centered Leadership's focus on people, kindness toward others can improve relationships. Leaders and staff who practice kindness foster collaboration and innovation.2 One hospital implemented a project to create a culture of kindness and support employee well-being.3 They engaged leadership in committing to walking the talk with kindness and empowering others to do the same. Caring conversations with staff were as easy as sincerely asking others how they were doing. They also improved their critical incident stress management process to be more proactive in acknowledging difficult events and the need to step back and heal with time and support. A Culture of Kindness Employee Council created guiding principles, including dignity and a sense of community. They worked to establish random acts of kindness and other programs to meaningfully recognize both individuals and teams. Building a sense of community involved cultivating kindness, collaboration, and a sense of inclusion among all employees. From housekeeping to nurses and physicians, everyone was included to recognize the value each person brings to the team. By doing this, the hospital improved employee engagement and trust and positively impacted both job satisfaction and patient experience scores. However, it's not all about better scores; it's about improving our ability to connect with all employees, peers, and colleagues on a human level by showing caring and kindness. What can you do to change your culture to make caring and kindness the norm? As with any change, I look inward and ask: How I can change myself and what do I need to do to create a workplace that's warm and inviting to all team members? Joanna Swash identifies a few key traits of a kind leader.4 As you read these, I invite you to reflect on your leadership skills and style. Be people-centered. Focus on individuals, understanding their personal human experience and establishing a relationship that's trusting. My mantra as a leader has always been about helping others be all they can be. It's important that people feel they're contributing their best to the workplace and the team. Be transparent. This includes being authentic, open, and honest. Most people can tell if you're not telling the truth. Communicate with integrity, show your kindness, and acknowledge your humanness. Own your mistakes, apologize, and admit when you don't know something. We're all human. Be purposeful. Do what you say you'll do. I'd add that following up is a key part of purposeful action. Always get back to those who've reached out to you for help or for whom you've agreed to do something. In addition to reflecting on your leadership practice, you may want to investigate whether a culture of kindness is what you'd envision for your team or unit. Ask your informal leaders and influencers, research the data about the impact kindness has on people and teams, and share what you learn with your team. Taking these actions may create more inquiry among your staff.

Finding Commonality: An Integrated Model for Nursing Leadership

Defining leadership within the nursing profession has included the statement “every nurse is a leader.” 1 Cline D. Crenshaw J.T. Woods S. Nurse leader: a definition for the 21st century. Nurse Leader. 2022; 20: 381-384 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (0) Google Scholar Nonetheless, there is a distinct difference in role expectations, scope, and standards of practice among informal, formal, and volunteer leaders. Given the current health care environment and variation in leadership models, there is a need to align commonality, communication, and expectations of the various concepts of leadership across care settings, professions, and industries. This article outlines an integrated leadership model available as an American Organization for Nursing Leadership resource at https://www.aonl.org/aonl-resources. Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, NE-BC, FAAN, is chief executive officer of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership and chief nursing officer and executive vice president of workforce of the American Hospital Association in Chicago, Illinois. Ronda Hughes, PhD, MHS, RN, CLNC, is senior director of professional practice at the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. She can be reached at [email protected]

Building Tomorrow's Leaders: A Study of Internal Growth and External Influences on Student Leadership

Student leadership begins at home, shaped by the care, actions, and influence of family. These student leaders internalize their parents’ behaviors and apply them to both formal and informal leadership roles. As they engage in these roles, they contribute to creating a positive environment that supports the development of leadership and fosters community growth. This study examines the influence of parents and teachers on the development of student leaders, as well as the reciprocal effect these leaders have on their communities. The research highlights the key factors necessary for students to succeed in leadership roles and how these roles impact their personal growth and development. Specifically, the findings reveal that student leaders play a significant role in addressing the needs of underprivileged peers and improving their academic achievement. Additionally, student leaders enhance morale within schools, communities, and programs, setting themselves and others up for success. The study also underscores the importance of a supportive home environment in boosting a student's confidence to face challenges. Moreover, it demonstrates how institutions can create opportunities that shape the future growth of student leaders. The analysis of both the external and internal factors influencing student leadership provides valuable insights into how to cultivate leadership potential and offers leaders the chance for deeper self-reflection on their contributions.

Potilasturvallisuusnäkökulmat ja niiden yhteensovittaminen johtamistyössä – haastattelututkimus erikoissairaanhoidossa työskenteleville lääkäreille

Perspectives on patient safety and combining them in management work – an interview study Patient safety in healthcare has traditionally been promoted through technical solutions and standard guidance. This kind of perspective that focuses solely on factors that weaken safety has not produced the desired result. In parallel, another approach to patient safety has emerged, one which raises the factors that maintain safety and the role of people in enhancing it. This article explores these two perspectives on patient safety in the framework of paradoxes and ambidexterity. The research reveals that paradoxes occur in situations where patient safety is strengthened with actions related to a different safety perspective. Those paradoxes can be confronted with leadership that recognizes both safety perspectives and their importance in enhancing patient safety. The research reveals that the importance of formal and informal leadership should be examined more closely in the future.

The Modality of Mulyadi Jayabaya’s Political Clan in the Lebak Local Election in 2018

This research discusses a number of strengths or capital possessed by the Mulyadi Jayabaya political clan in the electoral process at the 2018 Lebak regional head election, as well as having brought up his daughter in the 2018 regional head elections as a representation of one of the local political clans that has dominated the political-economic structure. The incumbent’s success in this electoral process has cemented the status quo among political clans. In addition, this victory cannot be denied because of the symbolic power that has been obtained by the incumbent. As stated in the study of Pierre Bourdieu (1986), who has seen that in the social arena there are always those who dominate and are dominated. Thus, to analyze the amount of capital owned by the Mulyadi Jayabaya political clan, the author uses a concept that has been conveyed by Pierre Bourdieu regarding capital, which consists of economic capital, social capital, cultural capital, and symbolic capital. This research addresses a number of capitals that are used ath the same time in an effort to maintain their power in fighting the empty column and civil society members who are members of the fight group for empty column because capital has a significant role, especially the political legacy that has been abandoned by the previous regent. As a result, incumbents and political clans build networks formally, such as with the bureaucracy, and with informal leaders, such as religious leaders, youth, and organizations, in the aftermath of clan member’s victories in the 2018 Lebak regional head election.

How do Registered Nurses Understand Followership?

Despite a consensus that followers and leaders are interdependent, the focus of nursing education, practice, and research has been leader centred. This has spawned calls in the nursing literature for increased scholarship on followership in nursing. To develop a grounded theory of followership in nursing. This study addressed the question - how do registered nurses understand followership? 11 registered nurses participated in online interviews that were later transcribed and analyzed following Charmaz's approach to Constructivist Grounded Theory. The core category of trusting informal and formal leaders was co-constructed from the data. A conceptual model, titled Followership as Trust in Acute Care Nursing Teams, illustrates that the nurses' decision to trust (and subsequently to engage in following) hinges on sharing the load (understanding one's role, accepting one's role, and working together); demonstrating knowledge (having experience, modelling, and mentoring); and connecting through communication (knowing the goal and communicating clearly). When participants fully trust formal and informal leaders, they engage in following as proactive members of the team, provide solutions to problems, and take initiative. Conversely, when they are less trusting of informal and formal leaders, they are less willing to follow. This study underscores the importance of trust between followers and leaders for effective team function and safe patient care. More research on the follower-leader dynamic in nursing is needed to inform education, policy, and practice so that every nurse possesses the knowledge and skill to be both a follower and a leader.

From the standpoint of friendshoring: Russia's trade relations with the regions of the global south

The geography of Russia's foreign trade, which is experiencing a period of profound transformational changes, acquires radically new contours. The Western states, which for a long time occupied dominant positions in the exports and imports of the Russian Federation, are being replaced by the countries of the global South – regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America. This process has been developing for more than a decade, but has now been radically accelerated in the face of sanctions and restrictions imposed on the Russian economy and trade, and the almost complete curtailment of Russia's business ties with the collective West. The countries of the global South, the informal leader of which is the economically successful China, are promoting their own agenda in the field of international trade, which opens up wide opportunities for Russia, but it also poses a new challenge – the need to build mutually beneficial business relations with dozens of different Asian, African and Latin American countries. Solving this problem requires rebooting the system of Russian foreign trade relations and developing a scientifically based and feasible strategy for cooperation with the regions of the global South. In doing so, it is necessary to take into account both the factors that bring all developing countries closer together and also regional and national specificities, which form an extremely diverse picture of the specific interests of individual States. The scientific novelty of this article, the author of which relies on the fruitful methodology developed by R. I. Khasbulatov, consists in a comparative analysis of trade relations of the Russian Federation with each of the largest regions of the global South: Asia, Africa and Latin America. The paper reveals both the specific features of Russian-Asian, Russian-African and Russian-Latin American trade, and the general features inherent in business relations of domestic enterprises with partners in the global South. The main conclusion of the study is that the development of trade relations with friendly countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America on the principles of friendshoring is becoming a key link in the foreign economic strategy, the main content of the turn of Russia's trade flows from the western (northern) to the eastern (southern) direction.

How is leadership maintained? A longitudinal mediation model linking informal leadership to upward voice through peer advice seeking.

Whereas scholars have identified individual antecedents of emerging as an informal leader among one's peers, our research seeks to understand how established informal leaders maintain their leadership status. Guided by principles from expectation states theory, we predict that being seen as an informal leader in a workgroup motivates other members to seek one out for work-related advice and, accordingly, facilitates the informal leader's engaging in upward voice directed toward the formal leader. Upward influence on behalf of the group may, in turn, reinforce leadership status among peers. Cross-lagged panel analysis of four-wave survey responses from 375 employees in 63 duty-free shops supported our hypotheses. Advice network centrality partially mediated the positive relationship between informal leadership and supervisor ratings of upward voice. The time-lagged effect of informal leadership on peer advice seeking was stronger among employees in a more central position of the friendship network. However, the theorized effect of upward voice on subsequent informal leadership received more limited support. Our research identifies a mechanism that stabilizes workgroup leadership structure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A qualitative study

A qualitative study

KAUM AL HADRAMAUT DAN PENYEBARAN ISLAM DI KALIMANTAN BARAT

The article aims to describe the diaspora of the Hadramauts in the spread of Islam in West Kalimantan. The research uses a qualitative approach with data collection through observation, interviews, and documentation. The research results show: First, the diaspora of the al-Hadramaut people was based on political, economic, and da'wah factors. Especially since the death of Ali bin Abi Thalib as the last caliph of Khulafaur Rasyidin, especially the political pressure of Bani Umayyah, following Bani Abbasiyah on the political rights of Bani Hasyim. Making Bani Hasyim leave Hijas for Yaman as a trader and preacher in the West Kalimantan region. Second, preaching through cultural and structural approaches that created the birth of various Islamic kingdoms in Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Maluku and others. Third, his position as a formal and informal leader, as well as being attached to the power of following to give birth to the Kubu kingdom and the Pontianak Kingdom.

EKSISTENSI KETUA ADAT DAYAK DESA PADA KOMUNITAS RUMAH BETANG

The Dayak Desa community in Betang House Ensaid Panjang Village, until now still maintains the existence of customs in the midst of their lives. This paper aims to reveal the existence of Ketua Adat in the midst of the current modernization period. The method used in this paper uses a qualitative method with data collection techniques by direct observation. The narratives in this paper are based on the results of in-depth interviews with informants formed in the data and information documentation. The focus of researchers in conducting mini research is on the existence of traditional leaders as seen from the seven elements of culture. The results showed that the Dayak Desa community living in Betang's house in Ensaid Panjang Village still maintained the function and existence of informal leaders. The election of the Ketua Adat Dayak Desa is based on community beliefs based on the charisma, authority and authority of the chosen figure. In addition to the figure of the traditional leader who is obeyed, the Dayak Desa community in Betang House in Ensaid Panjang Village really appreciates the house they use as a reference and guideline for customs in all their lives.

The meaning of leadership for educated young bedouin men

In a world beset by rapid change, more than ever people seek trustworthy leaders. The establishment of the State of Israel has wrought many changes in Bedouin society, including the perception of the traditional leadership. From being the majority population in an Arab country, the Bedouins have become a minority in a Jewish-majority state. Moreover, they have undergone a shift from an Indigenous, tribal culture to a culture based on individualism, and from a nomadic life to one of permanent settlement. In this context a qualitative study in the phenomenological tradition, using a semi-structured interview, was conducted among 20 educated young Bedouin men, ages 20–25, with the aim of understanding the meaning of leadership for them. The findings revealed that they see leadership as action for the benefit of all. They are aware of what they consider bogus leadership, elected officials who use their position to promote their own interests and those of their cronies. The participants described the differences between formal and informal leadership, on the basis of their experience. They also described the change they themselves are undergoing. The findings contribute to the understanding of factors affecting the perception of leadership in a society in transition to modernity and are applicable worldwide.

Assessing SMEs leadership styles impact on business development and job creation: Evidence from Ghana

Unemployment is a growing concern for today’s economies. Governments gear various policies to increase business productivity and expansion to create new job places. However, little research was conducted on how informal sector leadership contributes to resolving this crisis worldwide. This study seeks to identify the SME leadership styles that foster business development and job creation in Ghana. The study targets the leadership styles of artisans and manufacturers of local goods. Mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) where both questionnaire and interview were used to gather information from a total of one hundred and twenty respondents; sixty proprietors were artisans and the remaining were managers of local factories. The paper adopts SPSS and the Pearson correlation in the data analysis. The study determined emotional intelligence and ethical leadership regarded as emerging leadership styles the best for informal sector growth. However, bureaucratic leadership, autocratic and laissez-faire leadership referred to as traditional leadership styles had no positive influence on growth indicators within the informal economy. The results also reveal that most SMEs fold up before the fifth year of their establishment, deepening the unemployment situation in the research communities. The paper further confirms the inadequate resources of most SME leaders to take up leadership training. Therefore, the study recommends that government should periodically organize and finance workshops and seminars to facilitate SMEs access to leadership training and development in Ghana.

Learning to Enhance Community-Responsiveness in an Out-of-School Club Program

This article describes a methodology and method that can be adopted by informal education leaders who are interested in establishing or developing a community-responsive focus for out-of-school club programming. Based on an adaptation of Dewey’s Laboratory School model, a university research team partnered with a community-based science club provider (the STEM Academy) to establish a model club space where ways of enhancing community-responsiveness could be explored. The overall aim was to scale up an iterative practice of research-informed adaptations into a program of over 20 clubs. The partnership was focused on a two-phase process, equipping the STEM Academy to continue an ongoing research practice in the absence of university influence. The first phase of the study involved gathering information regarding science needs, wants and preferences of a new community context. The second phase established a model club space and sought community feedback on the efficacy of the club in meeting community desires. The research approach used to establish the club and gather ongoing data is described in this article which ends by proposing a schema that can be adapted to suit other out-of-school clubs and programs.

Teamwork, clinical leadership skills and environmental factors that influence missed nursing care - A qualitative study on hospital wards.

To explore how nursing teams in clinical inpatient nursing hospital wards perform teamwork to prevent or reduce missed nursing care and how teamwork is influenced by clinical leadership skills and environmental factors. Earlier studies on missed nursing care identified teamwork and leadership skills as promising factors in inpatient care that can positively influence quality of care and reduce missed nursing care. The effective use of teamwork in hospitals requires understanding what it is, how it is performed by nursing teams and how it is influenced by clinical leadership skills and environmental factors. A qualitative exploratory study was undertaken between January and March 2021. A total of 16 registered nurses who worked on various hospital wards, participated in three online focus groups. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke. Thematic analysis revealed four themes. First, nurses perform teamwork and clinical leadership skills in various ways. Some nurses work in pairs and have common goals, while other nurses work individually. This influences teamwork. Second, nurses are informal teachers, visible in teaching and learning from each other, contributing in constructive teamwork. Third, senior nurses are seen as informal leaders, forming connection between nursing wards and formal leaders, resulting in awareness of each other and the progress of patientcare. Finally, environmental factors influence the performance of teamwork. Results of this study show how knowledge regarding missed nursing care can be increased. Results can be used for developing training programs and embedding education in practice aimed at constructive teamwork, clinical leadership skills and missed nursing care.

Building Leadership Through Partnerships: Using Concept Mapping to Develop Community Capacity to Address Gender-Based Violence.

Building Leadership Through Partnerships:Using Concept Mapping to Develop Community Capacity to Address Gender-Based Violence Alisa J. Velonis, MPH, PhD, Erin Howes, MPH, Karla Altmayer, JD, Sheerine Alemzadeh, JD, Linda Forst, MD, MPH, and Jeni Hebert-Beirne, MPH, PhD What is The Purpose of This Study/Review? • Our study describes an academic–community partnership formed to help the leaders of a community-based organization (CBO) identify the critical elements for a leadership training program to address gender-based violence (GBV) in communities with high levels of precarious employment and little access to institutional supports. • The research partnership consisted of the leaders of the CBO, several academic researchers, and a team of "community animators," or community researcher trained in conducting research activities. • Concept mapping methods were used to generate and prioritize a list of resources and skills individuals from the targeted communities felt they would need to address GBV that happened at work and home. • While the findings directly influenced the content of the leadership program, the community partners found the process to be of equal benefit. What Is the Problem? • Despite the increased publicity surrounding workplace sexual harassment, women in temporary, low-wage jobs with few or no benefits are particularly vulnerable to experiencing GBV and its ramifications, both at home and at work. While some workplaces have initiated GBV response programs, the nature of precarious employment (e.g., few/no benefits, low wage, dangerous working conditions) and accompanying informal workplaces (e.g., private homes, warehouses, small businesses) preclude workers from having access to these programs, and likely discourage employees from seeing workplaces as a source of support. Thus, community-based and community-driven responses will be needed to provide support for women experiencing GBV in these populations. What Are the Findings? • The findings from the concept mapping activities suggested that participants believe that informal leaders from their communities who want to address issues of GBV would benefit from having skills and resources related to addressing workplace violence. ○ They suggested that a program that covered topics such as employee and survivor support and resources would be likely to draw participants to such a program. ○ Participants' focus on workplace violence may have been related to our initial emphasis on precariously employed individuals, but it is also likely that this is a less-sensitive form of GBV providing an entry point from which to initiate discussions about other forms of GBV, including violence initiated by partners and family members. [End Page e9] • The CBO leaders who co-led this research felt that the process of engaging members of the community (including the community animators) in prior to the launch of the programs was equally useful to the development of the program as the findings were. ○ They were able to build relationships and make connections they may not have made otherwise and allowed them to have a very successful program launch, with roughly one-third of program participants having been part of the concept mapping process, either as animators or as participants. Who Should Care Most? • The findings from our study are important for groups interested in developing community-driven approaches for addressing GBV. While the specific findings of our study may not be generalizable beyond low-wage communities and predominantly Latinx individuals, we believe that that the process of engaging communities was critical to our success. Our work highlights the platform that community driven research can provide in response to GBV. Recommendations for Action • Academic–community partnerships can be useful for soliciting input and buy-in from especially marginalized communities prior to launching programs in the area. [End Page e10] Alisa J. Velonis University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Division of Community Health Sciences Erin Howes University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Division of Community Health Sciences Karla Altmayer Healing to Action Sheerine Alemzadeh Healing to Action Linda Forst University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Jeni Hebert-Beirne University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Division of Community Health Sciences Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press

Position Statement on Cancer Nursing Leadership.

Position Statement on Cancer Nursing Leadership.

Effects of Trait Dominance on Social Rank Achievement in the Workplace

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify, explore, and provide the underlying mechanisms for an individual’s trait dominance leading to a high social standing within a group. Design/Methodology/Approach – Based on status characteristics theory, implicit theories, and social exchange theory, this study posits that informal leadership is the main mediator in the relationship between trait dominance and social rank enhancement. This study also argues that the relationship between trait dominance and perceived informal leadership diminishes when trait dominance is not accompanied by a corresponding level of competence. It also argues that the positive association between trait dominance and perceived informal leadership is amplified when the group feels a sense of urgency. Using a survey-based study with 270 employee–peer pairs, this study tested hypotheses using a series of hierarchical regressions. Findings – This paper studies and empirically finds the indirect mediating effect of informal leadership connecting trait dominance to social rank. Moreover, the moderating effect of sense of urgency is found as statistically significant. That is, when group members perceive that the group encounters uncertain or even risky situations, they appreciate the value of trait dominance possessed by informal leaders. Research Implications – In the management of this paper, this study sheds light on the inconsistent effects of dominance on social rank by providing an alternative pathway. The current theoretical and empirical research framework emphasizes that individuals with trait dominance are perceived to be leadership material regardless of their official title as they possess and convey various leadership-signaling cues.

Critical Participatory Action Research as Leadership Praxis: Sociopolitical Crises as Ordinary Moments for Expansive Educational Leadership

Philadelphia offers an ideal case study for understanding how community and education leaders negotiate the contemporary sociopolitical context and various crises to advance educational equity and justice. This paper focuses on our critical participation action research and organizing within an education coalition to offer an example of community-engaged research that strives for education equity and justice through leadership development. Our goal is to expand conceptualizations of educational leadership to include diverse stakeholders connected to school communities as experts. Toward that end, we examine and amplify the expertise of informal education leaders (e.g., families and communities) involved in struggles for education justice with attention to their response to the twin crises of COVID-19 and uprisings against anti-Black racism and police violence. Our work centers those directly impacted by systems and structures of oppression as experts on relationship building and community engagement. Findings offer insights and strategies to educational leaders for fostering family and community engagement and collaboration in times of crises and conflict.

How Distributed Leadership Fosters Individual Leadership Emergence: The Mediating Role of Empowerment Role Identity and Enacted Leader Identity

Departing from past research on managers’ influence on employees’ informal leadership emergence, we explore the mechanism of how distributed leadership enhances individual leadership emergence from a cognitive perspective. Drawing upon the leadership identity construction theory and role identity theory, we theoretically developed and empirically tested a serial mediation model. It examines how distributed leadership promotes employees’ leadership emergence via individual empowerment role identity and enacted leader identity. Using a three-wave field survey from 496 subordinate–supervisor dyads (82 supervisors and 496 employees) in China, we found that empowerment role identity and enacted leader identity serially mediate the association between distributed leadership and employees’ leadership emergence. The results demonstrate the leadership identity construction process of employees’ leadership emergence under distributed leadership. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are then discussed.