Credible Leadership Research Articles

(In)Credibly Inclusive? A Panel Study on Inclusive Leadership, Leader Credibility, and Inclusive Climate

Cultivating an inclusive climate is an important concern for many public organizations, and it can be approached through various means. Research suggests that by exercising inclusive leadership, public managers may be able to support an inclusive climate. However, we still know little about the extent to which and under what conditions inclusive leadership is effective in promoting an inclusive climate. This study contributes to the existing research by examining the importance of inclusive leadership on inclusive climate utilizing a representative panel of 705 Danish high school teachers. Additionally, the study argues that leader credibility may be an important moderator. Testing the preregistered hypotheses, the study finds support for a statistically significant effect of changes in inclusive leadership on changes in inclusive climate. Contrary to expectations, leader credibility does not appear to moderate the relationship. The study suggests that inclusive leadership is relevant to promote inclusive climates across different contexts.

Leading by example from high-status individuals: exploring a crucial missing link in climate change mitigation

Behaviour change has great potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly, helping to prevent dangerous global warming. Some of the most impactful changes are: flying less, eating less meat, driving electric cars, improving home energy efficiency, increased use of public transport and active travel. However, these choices have proved elusive at scale and are rarely encouraged or modelled by high-status individuals (“leaders”), despite established knowledge about the influence of leaders as role models. Applying theories of embodied leadership and credibility enhancing displays, our novel pre-registered survey experiment (n = 1267) reveals that visible leading by example from politicians and celebrities significantly increases the willingness of members of the UK public to make these high-impact low-carbon choices. In addition, leading by example greatly increases perceptions of leader credibility, trustworthiness, competence, and favourability. We find no significant effects of leading by example on people’s wider perceptions of climate change, but a strong “appetite for leadership” among the public is revealed. In light of these findings, we discuss how embodied leadership by way of visible low-carbon behaviour from leaders may provide a crucial “missing link” for climate change mitigation.

Role of emotions in change and change management in an emergency department: a qualitative study

BackgroundChanges in emergency departments are frequently implemented to improve efficiency and reduce costs. However, staff acceptance and adoption are crucial for the intended success of changes.ObjectivesThis study explored staff perceptions...

Social Justice and Credible Leadership in the 21st Century University Leadership and Management

In this study we examined social justice and credible leadership in the 21st century university leadership and management. The research employed a correlational survey design. The population of the study comprised of academic staff of selected universities in the South-South geo political zone of Nigeria. The selected universities are University of Port Harcourt, University of Calabar, University of Delta, Niger Delta University, and University of Benin. The sample for the study comprised forty academic staff from each of the universities who were randomly selected after stratification. Out of the 240 questionnaires were distributed, only 214 copies were retrieved, of which 11 copies were invalid because some of the items were not answered, leaving the researcher with only 203(84.5%) response rate that were considered manageable for the data analysis. The study utilized a self-structured questionnaire titled Social Justice in Education Questionnaire (SJEQ) and Credible Leadership in University Management Questionnaire (CLUMQ), the Questionnaire consisted of three sections. Section ‘A’ gathered information on respondents demographic data, Section ‘B’ contained 15 items that addressed the research questions, and Section ‘C’ included 10 items that are related to Credible Leadership in University leadership and Management. Respondents rated items on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Very Low Extent) to 4 (Very High Extent). Data collection was done from February to May 2024. The instrument underwent face and content validity by experts in measurement and evaluation in two Nigerian universities, and the internal consistency was verified using Cronbach's alpha and reliability indices of α = .872 and .789 were obtained respectively, the indices were considered very reliable. The questionnaires were administered with the help of two trained research assistants who assisted in ensuring instant retrieval of the instrument distribution to the selected academic staff members. Descriptive statistics: means and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions, while linear regression statistic was employed to test research hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The findings of this study revealed a positive relationship between social justice practices and leadership and management credibility in the 21st. The study concluded that the integration of social justice principles into leadership and management practices within university systems are essential. Amongst other things, the study recommended that University leaders should prioritize equitable resource allocation to ensure that all departments and programs receive the necessary resources to thrive.

The Impact of Religion and Culture on Political Corruption in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State: A Case Study of 2015 General Elections

This study examines the impact of religion and culture on political corruption in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State in reference to 2015 general elections. Many local governments in Nigeria lack many developments, social amenities, health facilities, rural development and power supply due to the syndrome of corruption and autonomy independence to control their resources without the state interference due to that scenario, lack of accountability, lack of credible leadership, instability of political and socioeconomic development as take place. Culture and religion as influenced voting patterns of the electorate during the 2015 Presidential general elections. The impacts of corruption on the politics of the country include the crisis of legitimacy, lack of party ideology, weak political institutions; economic underdevelopment and political violence and the role of “Godfatherism” as initiated electoral corruption. Some power brokers with sufficient financial muscles sponsored their anointed godsons for political offices in return for lucrative contracts and spoils of the public treasury looting. They sponsored thugs, bribed the electoral stakeholders, and influenced voters through vote buying and all sorts of electoral manipulation to ensure that their candidates scale through and control power at all levels. The questionnaire and the structured questions formulated by the researchers were given to project supervisor, who criticized and that the instruments are validated, for they were seen measuring what were expected to measure. Findings revealed that a total number of 30 respondents represented (22.3%) candidate’s choice, 27 respondents represented (20.1%) election campaign, 23 respondents represented (17.1%) family background, while 54 respondents represented (40.2%) religious belief. This implies that majority of the respondents in this study agreed that religious belief is the means by which religion and culture influenced the voting pattern of Akinyele Local Government Area in the 2015 general elections. The study recommends that all candidates contesting for any political office must declare their assets publicly to avoid cases of corruption.

Identity, Leadership, and Cooperation: An experimental analysis

Effective leaders promote cooperation among their followers. Although many studies have focused on approaches to effective leadership, few have studied how social identity impacts a leader’s effectiveness within the context of a controlled laboratory environment. Using a novel laboratory experiment and a guiding theoretical framework enables us to shed new light on how social identity impacts leader–follower interactions in a decontextualized environment. In our experiment, the leader, if present, may or may not share a social identity with the rest of the group. Our main finding is that ingroup leaders are more effective than outgroup leaders, and outgroup leaders are no more effective than groups without a leader. In particular, ingroup leaders are more likely to suggest greater cooperation among followers, and their suggestions are more likely to be followed. Further, we find that outgroup leaders are less credible leaders. These findings suggest that diversity alone does not drive inclusion and provide evidence of an important challenge to achieving the well-documented organizational benefits that stem from a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Deviating from the course: How presentational strategies and leadership investments affect leader credibility and collaborative engagement

When changing course, public managers often risk losing credibility in the eyes of their employees. A key question, therefore, is how a manager’s presentational strategy regarding a change in initiatives influences employees’ judgments of the manager’s credibility, especially when substantial investments were made in the prior initiative. We develop a typology of presentational strategies to probe how public managers can navigate such situations. In a preregistered and scenario-based survey experiment, we expose 499 occupational therapists employed in Danish municipalities to video-vignettes that manipulate a manager’s presentational strategy and investment in a leadership initiative. Taking responsibility for the decision increases loss of credibility and engagement compared to the control group. Blaming politicians retains credibility and engagement in cases of low initial commitment but less so for high commitment. These findings show that the way in which decisions are presented matters for credibility and engagement when managers change leadership initiatives.

Political Apathy in 2023 General Elections in Nigeria: A Case Study of Enugu State, Nigeria

This study examined political apathy and 2023 general elections in Nigeria using Enugu state as a case study.The study raised two specific questions which were: What are the various factors responsible for political apathy in the 2023 general election in Enugu state? How has government interference contributed to political apathy during the 2023 general elections in Enugu State? The study was anchored on the class analysis theory. Using ex-post facto design the study adopted thematic content analysis to examine political apathy and 2023 general elections in Enugu. The study therefore, concluded that there are various factors responsible for political apathy in the 2023 general election in Enugu state and government interference contributed to political apathy during the 2023 general elections in Enugu State. The researcher recommended that state governments should ensure to leave up to the promises of good governance made to the people. All factors that lead to political apathy must be checkmated. Enforceable legislations against election rigging, violence, thuggery, godfatherism and the like should be put into practice. Good governance will ensure, justice, fairness, equity and inclusion for all. All federal government agencies charged with voter education like National Orientation Agency (NOA), INEC, and Ministry of Information should sustain political education at all levels of the society. Political apathy is not the solution to electoral problems rather it endangers the electoral system more. Popular participation in elections will help reduce the influence of godfathers during elections thus creating room for the emergence of credible leaders through a credible election process. Keywords: Apathy; Political Apathy, Elections; Electoral Fraud and Violence

Balancing Relevancy and Rigor: Exploring the Impact of Scholarly Books on Knowledge Formation in Business Research

Scholars are charged with knowledge advancement by conducting relevant research. Academic researchers rely on the peer-review journal system to evaluate the quality and relevancy of their work. Despite its value, the current review system is flawed and sometimes results in fragmented knowledge formation. Some scholars, including Kouzes and Posner (K&P), publish research in books more accessible to practitioners. The impact of foregoing the traditional journal publication process on current knowledge is unclear. To explore this question, we used leadership scholarship as a case study and examined how K&P's leader credibility conceptualization, primarily shared in practitioner-focused books, was integrated into peer-review literature knowledge. More specifically, we compared K&P's definition with the conceptual definition which emerged from a comprehensive review of leader credibility definitions contained in peer-reviewed literature. We discuss the advantages of different pathways to relevancy and identify ways to achieve better collective knowledge by using these different pathways.

Credible Leadership: Characteristics and Effects on Leader Performance

Credible Leadership: Characteristics and Effects on Leader Performance

The Curious Personality Cult of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi: At the Crossroads of Religion, Politics, and Communication Strategies and Technologies

Abstract This paper studies the construction of the personality cult of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the deceased leader of the Islamic State (is) organization that ruled large territories in Iraq and Syria in the mid to late 2010s. Examining a range of is primary sources, I argue that al-Baghdadi sought to develop a distinct personality cult by cultivating auras of holiness and mystique around his personae. While he flaunted putatively exceptional religious leadership credentials, it is al-Baghdadi’s use of communication strategies and technologies for projecting his personality cult that distinguishes his case and this study. Al-Baghdadi sought to strategically mystify himself by rarely appearing in public and largely avoiding visual self-revelation in the media messages he released. Ultimately, given his defiance of regional and international powers and his group’s notoriety, al-Baghdadi’s low visibility and self-enigmatization worked to his advantage by generating much interest about him among supporters and the global media.

A realist synthesis of multicentre comparative audit implementation: exploring what works and in which healthcare contexts

BackgroundMulticentre comparative clinical audits have the potential to improve patient care, allow benchmarking and inform resource allocation. However, implementing effective and sustainable large-scale audit can be difficult within busy and...

Impact of electoral violence on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Kogi state, Nigeria

This study examines the impact of electoral violence on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study specific objectives are to examine the impact of electoral violence on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Nigeria. The study adopts survey research design. The population of the study is 4,473,600.This study employs scientific sampling technique determination of Krejcie and Morgan (1970) to arrive at a sample size of 384. Purposive sampling method was adopted as the sampling technique for this study. The study utilized primary data source. The primary data for this study was questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed in five Likert scale. Simple Ordinary Least Square regression was used to check the impact of electoral violence on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study found that electoral violence has a negative impact on democratic governance and electoral credibility in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study concludes that electoral violence has remained a sour taste in Nigeria’s bid for democratic governance in Nigeria. The study also concludes that electoral violence discourages election of credible leaders and people’s participation in the electoral process thereby militating against electoral credibility in Nigeria. The study recommends for the need to reconstruct security architecture of the country, sanction political leaders, political parties and individuals that violate electoral laws, tackle the problem of arms proliferation and embark on political education and enlightenment that will encourage citizens to adhere strictly to democratic tenets. The study recommends for a reduction in the financial attractiveness of political offices, handing down of stiffer penalties to perpetrators of electoral violence by the government so as to deter others from demonstrating such acts in the future.

Democratic Measures for Curbing Electoral Violence in Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka District, Zambia

In Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka District Zambia, physical violence especially during the election cycles of 2011, 2016 and 2021 may appear to have escalated. If violence and tyranny are allowed to take root in any democratic state, it may deprive the people of the capacity to resist bad governance because of the pervasive atmosphere of terror, fear and insecurity. Based on the foregoing context, this article explored Democratic measures that can be used to curb electoral violence in Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka District, Zambia. The article employed qualitative approach with a case study design. Twenty eight (28) participants were recruited for this research and they provided Primary data. The main findings of this research were that good political culture in the electoral process, enhancing civic and voter education, fair application of the law, formation and enhancing of youth empowerment programmes, responsive leadership both at party and national levels are the key democratic measures that can be used to curb electoral violence. Equally, having independent government institutions that are mandated to conduct elections is key as their operations may not be ill influenced by external forces. The article recommends that Political parties and constituencies should treat election period as an opportunity to elect credible leaders through democratic means than a possibility to intimidate those with divergent views.

‘Smart’ BLE wearables for digital contact tracing in care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic—a process evaluation of the CONTACT feasibility study

BackgroundRapid and mass transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus amongst vulnerable people led to devastating effects from COVID-19 in care homes. The CONTACT intervention introduced Bluetooth Low Energy ‘smart’ wearable devices (BLE wearables) as a basis for automated contact tracing in, and feedback on infection risks and patterns to, care homes to try and improve infection prevention and control (IPC). We planned a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of CONTACT. To be feasible, homes had to adopt CONTACT’s technology and new ways of working. This paper reports on the process evaluation conducted alongside CONTACT’s feasibility study and explains why it lacked the feasibility and acceptability for a definitive RCT.MethodsThis mixed method process evaluation used Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) qualitative (interviews, field notes, study case report forms and documents, and observation) and quantitative (survey instruments, counts of activity) data to plan, implement, and analyse the mechanisms, effects, and contextual factors that shaped the feasibility and acceptability of the CONTACT intervention.ResultsThirteen themes within four core NPT constructs explained CONTACT’s lack of feasibility. Coherence: the home’s varied in the scale and extent of commitment and understanding of the technology and study procedures. Leadership credibility was important but compromised by competing priorities. Management and direct care staff saw CONTACT differently. Work to promote (cognitive participation) and enact (collective action) CONTACT was burdensome and failed to be prioritised over competing COVID-19-related demands on time and scarce human and cognitive resources. Ultimately, staff appraisal of the value of CONTACT-generated information and study procedures (reflexivity) was that any utility for IPC was insufficient to outweigh the perceived burden and complexity involved.ConclusionsDespite implementation failure, dismissing BLE wearables’ potential for contact tracing is premature. In non-pandemic conditions, with more time, better co-design and integration of theory-driven implementation strategies tailored to care homes’ unique contexts, researchers could enhance normalisation in readiness for future pandemic challenges.Trial registrationISRCTN registration: 11,204,126 registered 17/02/2021.

Using a systematic literature review to clarify ambiguous construct definitions: identifying a leader credibility definitional model

Using a systematic literature review to clarify ambiguous construct definitions: identifying a leader credibility definitional model

Socializing into a Profession with High Early Turnover: Nursing Students’ Expectations for Leader-Member Relationships

ABSTRACT The nursing profession is wrought with high levels of turnover, particularly among new nurses. One reason for this turnover may be explained by a disparity between what new nurses expect in terms of communication from leaders and coworkers and what they realistically receive. This study uses a mixed-methods experimental design to explore young adult nursing students’ preferences for manager communication behaviors, how different managerial archetypes influence nursing students’ perceptions of their leader, and how personal factors may influence nursing students’ preferences for various managerial styles. Findings suggest that new nurses prefer more mentor- and teacher-type managers and that managerial archetypes influence young adult nursing students’ perceptions of leader credibility, effectiveness, leader-member exchange, and employee commitment. Furthermore, personal factors such as self-worth and desire for relational communication behaviors influence preferred manager type. Participants’ qualitative responses reveal several task and behavioral wants and needs of new nurses. Findings from this study can informatively help to bridge the gap between expectations and reality in the nursing profession, thus addressing a potential reason for consistent turnover.

Leading the Circular Future: South Australia’s Potential Influence on Circular Economy Development in Asia-Pacific Region

Circular economy is among the most influential concepts relating to the realization of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. Advocates of the circular economy promote its potential to achieve a decoupling of growth from material consumption. Academic critiques describe the circular economy concept as poorly defined and insufficiently concerned with other problems associated with consumerism, globalization, and inequality. South Australia has built a reputation as a first mover in waste management regulations and has recently positioned itself as a leader in the transition to the circular economy. However, the Asia-Pacific region contains a wide variety of socioeconomic, geographic, and climatic conditions that impact waste generation, resource recovery, and circular economy potentials. There are questions about the appropriateness of transferring waste strategy and technologies to different settings. Therefore, this paper explores the basis of South Australia’s leadership credentials and discusses its potential influence over the region. This research is based on an analysis of policy documents produced by the South Australian Government. This study found that while multiple South Australian policy documents highlight a desire to lead in circular economy transition, South Australia’s leadership reputation had been built prior to its adoption of circular economy ideology. The South Australian Waste Strategy 2020–2025 projects a vision of circular futures aligned to circular modernism and planned circularity. The paper concludes that any transfer of waste strategy should occur with sensitivity to existing waste management systems including the informal sector. Asia-Pacific countries, including Australia, should consider decentralized, low-tech circular economy projects to help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Corruption and Foreign Policy Formulation and Implementation in Nigeria: An Overview

This paper examines the nexus of corruption and foreign policy formulation and implementation vis-avis the impacts on politics and governance in Nigeria. Using liberalism as a theoretical approach to capture the discourse, the paper relies on qualitative data collected from secondary sources. The study argues that political leadership and corruption are interwoven, with far-reaching implications for socio-economic development. The paper concludes that for Nigeria to experience political and socio-economic development, responsible and credible leaders must emerge to implant the act of good and selfless governance in the country through policy formulation and implementation. The study reveals that Nigeria has yet to benefit fully from the conduct of external relations since independence in 1960. This is because some of the domestic factors that determine Nigeria’s image (economy, military, demography, leadership, constitution, etc.) are not fully developed to give the nation the leverage to assert its influence at the regional level and on the global scene. It is, therefore, recommended that these factors that impede the formulation and implementation of Nigeria’s foreign policy should be looked into and resolved so that the country can benefit both from its domestic policy and foreign relations and maximize fully her potential rather than people turning the table for their benefit.

Model of Government Communication to Build Leadership Credibility in Banten Province, Indonesia

Credibility is a significant aspect of leadership practice that causes followers to respect a leader voluntarily. Government credibility is determined through communication between the government and its people. However, the credibility of the government leadership in Banten Province is a challenge, considering that Banten Province is one of the regions with political dynasties. Therefore, this study describes the function of communication and formulates a communication function model to build the credibility of Banten Province's government leadership. This study used Quasi-Qualitative Design (QQD) with collection through semi-structured interviews, observations, documentation, and questionnaires. We show the implementation of two government communication functions, such as influencing and conveying policies. While the other two parts, namely educating and entertaining, need to be maximised. Meanwhile, the dimensions of leadership credibility, such as integrity, competence, and leadership, have gone well. The government communication model is developed from the Schramm communication model in a circular form to build leadership credibility in Banten Province. In leadership studies, this model can guide increasing credibility, so all formal and informal leadership organisations can adopt this model by formulating leadership-related empirical facts and various references. It is highly applicable to leadership 4.0