Meaningful Leadership Research Articles

Making work a calling: the role of meaningful leadership and sustainable human resource management practices in fostering a sense of calling in employees

PurposeThis paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.Design/methodology/approachThis briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.FindingsThis study explores the role of meaningful leadership and sustainable human resource management practices in fostering a sense of work as a calling in employees, and finds that the role of meaningful leadership is critical in developing work calling through sustainable HRM practices in the presence of meaningful work.Originality/valueThe briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Developing meaningful leadership in organizations: Evidence from a cross-case analysis in India

PurposeThe extant organizational leadership literature acknowledges the utility of pursuing meaningful leadership, yet the scarcity of meaningful leaders persists. This paper compares two cases to elicit the factors distinguishing successful and unsuccessful meaningful leadership.Design/methodology/approachThis paper delves into the strategies and practices of leaders in two organizations, and data are collected in the form of field notes of participant observations, and informal conversations with the members of both organizations. It seeks to unveil the defining characteristics of a leader who fosters member meaningfulness (Organization X) compared to one who does not (Organization Y).FindingsThe paper highlights distinct strategies that contribute to meaningful leadership. Effective leaders emphasize broader objectives, align values, adopt participatory leadership, mitigate meaninglessness, and promote continuous learning and growth. Conversely, ineffective leaders prioritize short-term goals, overlook value alignment, and lack participative engagement; together, these factors enable leaders to inspire, engage, and guide their teams with a sense of meaning.Practical implicationsBy acknowledging that meaningful leaders may not be easily developed, organizations can shift focus towards identifying and nurturing such leaders, enhancing their capacity to foster genuine meaning among members and thereby improving overall organizational effectiveness.Originality/valueThis paper’s unique contribution lies in its comparative analysis of real-world cases, illuminating the specific practices that underlie meaningful leadership. By delineating the critical factors contributing to meaningfulness, this research lays a foundation for organizations to locate and cultivate leaders capable of engendering authentic meaning within their teams.

Training future leaders: A qualitative study exploring leadership development in predoctoral dental curricula.

Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) accreditation standard 2-19 states predoctoral dental schools must assess students' ability to function successfully as the leader of the oral health care team. This study aimed to explore how dental schools incorporate leadership training into their curriculum to better understand the leadership skills students learn, the ways students engage in leadership training, and the opportunities students have to practice leadership skills with their peers. The aim of this 2022 qualitative phenomenology study was to use semi-structured interviews with academic Deans at CODA-accredited dental schools and one subject matter expert to uncover types of cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors influencing leadership training through the lens of social cognitive theory. All interviews were recorded on Zoom, transcribed, de-identified, and analyzed for recurring themes using NVivo. Eight academic Deans and one subject matter expert participated in the study. Four major themes emerged from the data: leadership is essential for dental professionals, leadership is incorporated into the curricula in diverse ways, students most often engage in leadership training opportunities with dental peers and interprofessional opportunities could be expanded, and dental schools often face barriers to incorporating leadership training. Vertically integrated case presentations and team-based practice management simulations are meaningful leadership development activities. Prominent barriers include time constraints, lack of faculty champions with teaching leadership expertise, and prioritizing the development of hand skills. Standard practices for student leadership development and assessment do not appear to exist across dental school curricula. Findings support the need for a leadership development framework.

Assessing Student Ratings of Developmental Experiences in a High School Physical Education Leadership Program

Purpose: Although physical education (PE) leadership programs are widespread, little research has examined the PE leaders’ perceptions of these experiences. The purpose of this study was to assess student ratings of developmental experiences in a PE leadership program compared with ratings of the typical PE student experience. Method: A matched case-control study design was used to assess high school students’ (n = 186) subscale scores on the Youth Experience Survey 2.0. Data were analyzed using matched-pairs t tests, and Cohen’s d was used as a measure of effect size. Results: As hypothesized, PE leaders reported significantly higher levels of positive experiences and no significant differences on negative experiences. Discussion/Conclusions: Little is known about what happens in most PE leadership programs. Results presented here support claims that PE can support meaningful leadership development. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Examining U.S. Higher Education’s Function in Fostering Social Justice Leadership Development among College Student Leaders of Color

This study examines the function of U.S. higher education in fostering social justice leadership development among college student leaders of color. Specifically, this study investigates various on-campus educational opportunities at postsecondary institutions that college student leaders of color identify as being meaningful for their social justice leadership development. Social justice leadership development refers to an individual’s growth in increasing motivation to lead, building leadership skills, and performing leadership with an orientation toward advancing justice. Using the Social Action, Leadership, and Transformation model framework (SALT) and a critical qualitative methodology, this study centers on the knowledge and experiences of 16 college student leaders of color at seven postsecondary institutions across New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The findings suggest that (1) leadership education designed for students of color, (2) culturally relevant academic majors and classes, (3) designated institutional offices and programs serving diverse students, and (4) identity-based or political student organizations play a crucial role in fostering student participants’ social justice leadership development. The study results inform a need for broadening institutional curricular and extra-curricular leadership educational opportunities across various spaces on campus to foster meaningful leadership development for students of color especially.

Meaningful leadership and sustainable HRM: catalysts for follower calling – a moderated mediational model

PurposeThe aim of the study is to identify the ways of making work a calling for employees. Based on signaling theory, the authors present an integrated model to develop calling in employees by finding an indirect effect of meaningful leadership on calling through sustainable human resource management (SHRM) practices. Furthermore, the authors predict that meaningful work will moderate this mediating effect.Design/methodology/approachIn a three-wave time-lagged study, the authors followed 187 workers from multiple organizations across Pakistan to examine how meaningful leadership influences employee calling through SHRM practices in the form of signals. The authors established that this indirect effect is stronger when employees perceive their work as meaningful. The authors used structural equation modeling in MPlus to test a moderated mediational model.FindingsThe results show that meaningful leadership is positively related to calling through SHRM practices, and meaningful work significantly moderates this mediating relationship. Specifically, the indirect effect of meaningful leadership is stronger when meaningful work is high.Originality/valueThe study substantiates the high importance of meaningful leadership as a signaler and provides insight into the mechanism of meaningful work as a contingency to develop a calling. The uniqueness of the study lies in testing meaningful leadership empirically and identifying external antecedents of calling among employees.

Keteladanan Spiritual dalam Kepemimpinan Yosua: Pengaruhnya dalam Meningkatkan Ketekunan Rohani dalam Konteks Kepemimpinan

This study aims to analyze the concept of spiritual example in Joshua's leadership and its impact on increasing spiritual perseverance in the context of leadership. This study uses a qualitative method with a literature review approach to explore the concept of spiritual example in Joshua's leadership and how this concept influences the increase of spiritual perseverance in the context of leadership. Through analysis of religious, theological, and leadership literature, this study reveals that Joshua, an ancient leader in the Bible story, represents a spiritual role model in leadership roles. Joshua's leadership characteristics that reflected spiritual values, such as integrity, firm faith, and commitment to moral goals, had a positive impact in guiding the Israelites and strengthening spiritual perseverance in the face of challenges. This study describes how Joshua's spiritual example inspires and guides community members to follow the spiritual values he exhibits. Furthermore, the implication of the concept of spiritual example in leadership is the potential to strengthen the moral and ethical foundations in leadership roles. This research also shows the importance of the spiritual dimension in forming meaningful and authentic leadership characters in dealing with modern dynamics. The results of this study have significant practical implications for contemporary leaders. An understanding of the concept of spiritual example in Joshua's leadership can help leaders integrate spiritual values into their leadership practices. As such, this research makes a valuable contribution to understanding the relationship between spiritual example, spiritual perseverance, and meaningful leadership in this complex world.

Making Teaching Meaningful: The Meaning and Development of Principals’ Meaningful Leadership

Making Teaching Meaningful: The Meaning and Development of Principals’ Meaningful Leadership

Meaningful Leadership and Employees’ Well-being: Process through Meaningful Work

Based on the principle of intrinsic motivation of self-determination theory, the purpose of the present research was to unearth the effect of meaningful leadership on followers’ positive emotional well-being indirectly through meaningful work. The following 665 workers were recruited from varied organizations and surveyed 3 times over a period of one month. To test the current study’s hypotheses, we checked whether meaningful work explained meaningful leadership’s relationship with employees' positive emotional well-being in the form of intrinsic motivation. Structural equation modelling was applied interesting of a mediation model in Mplus. The results suggested that the employees who perceive their leaders’ behaviors as meaningful recognize their work more meaningful and ultimately have positive emotional well-being. Overall, the results of our study support and contribute to the positive organizational psychology literature, specifically empirically found that meaningful leadership contributes to the meaningful work of the followers and positive emotional well-being. Further, suggested measures for managers to improve the well-being of employees

Leadership Empowerment Values: A Literature Review

The purpose of this article is to conduct a literature review related to leadership empowerment viewed from 6 values, namely integrity, collaboration, agility, dedication, innovation and meaningfulness. This study is a literature review of related journals. The literature was collected from 50 journal articles from 2000 to 2021. Based on the results of the review, it is known that the value of integrity in leadership empowerment refers to honesty and consistency between values and behaviors adopted. Collaborative leadership empowerment is needed to foster an environment that supports collaboration at work. Agility in leadership is demonstrated through flexible leadership and can lift the capabilities of the staff, so that they can contribute to the development of the company in a more advanced direction. Dedicated leaders work selflessly, have confidence in what they are doing, the goals they want to achieve, and how to get there. Innovative leaders are leaders who are willing to learn and change, willing to invest in learning and changing existing mindsets of individuals, teams and organizations. Meaningful leadership is characterized by leadership that has quality intellectual, social and moral abilities and has a positive effect on employee work. In short, these six values contribute effectively towards the quality of good leaders.

Is Meaningful Work a Stronger Predictor of Innovation Than Transformational Leadership?

Purpose: Innovation is recognised as a key driver of business and economic growth. However, many organisations struggle to implement or encourage innovation successfully. A number of factors, including the demonstration of transformational leadership, have been examined in encouraging innovation behaviour among employees. ‘Meaningful work’ is seen as an additional factor influencing innovation but has received little attention in this field. Design: Drawing on both an emerging body of research on meaningful work and a leading model of creativity and innovation in organisations, this exploratory study of 100 Australian adult employees investigated the additional predictive value of both meaningful work and transformational leadership on innovation behavior.Findings: Results showed that meaningful work was positively correlated with, and predicted, innovation, while transformational leadership did not contribute to innovative behaviour. Implications:This finding has implications for organisations fostering innovation by helping them better understand the impact meaningful work could have on their innovation objectives.Originality:This is one of the first studies examining the relationship between innovation, meaningful work, and transformational leadership in a population of employed adults.

Developing Academic Leadership From a Distance: A Health Professions Education Practicum Course.

Leadership skills are fundamental to the successful practice of health professions education (HPE), but HPE degree programs struggle with providing meaningful leadership instruction from a distance. The leaders of the HPE program at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences developed a practicum course to give learners guided experiences in their daily leadership roles and responsibilities from a distance. The ongoing practicum course, started in fall 2018 and broadly framed by the principles of deliberate practice and self-directed learning, involves a 6-step process where learners: (1) identify leadership competency/ies to develop, (2) identify roles and responsibilities in their own work settings that involve elements of leadership, (3) develop a learning agreement that identifies personal leadership goals for the practicum activity, (4) are assigned expert preceptors by practicum directors, (5) initiate regular meetings with their preceptors to receive feedback and expert advice, and (6) end the practicum activity with a debriefing reflection between themselves and their preceptors. Practicum activity timelines are flexible and preceptors work with learners through the lifespan of the project. Learners can participate in multiple practicum activities as they improve different leadership competencies. Since fall 2018, 36 learners have participated in 83 practicum activities, 45 (54%) of which have been completed. The practicum activities show that leadership competencies are most often embedded within other activities and are unique to every situation. Reflecting on practice, collaborating in teams, and negotiating and resolving conflict are the most commonly identified leadership competencies learners want to improve. Feedback on the practicum from learners has been positive. This practicum course provides a model that can be applied in various organizational contexts. In the future, the authors plan to collect data from both learners and preceptors about their experiences and solicit feedback from learners' employers and supervisors.

Failure of leadership in U.S. academic medicine after George Floyd's killing by police and amidst subsequent unrest

The horrific nature of George Floyd's killing by a Minneapolis Police Department officer on May 25, 2020 sparked an enduring stretch of nationwide protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. During periods of crisis, anchor institutions may exert leadership by issuing public statements to communicate shared institutional values, enhance morale, and signal direction in the face of crisis. In our analysis of public statements issued by 56 leading U.S. medical schools, we found that nearly all identified George Floyd by name, and a majority noted the role of racism or acknowledged the Black community specifically. Fewer referenced the act resulting in Floyd's death or made explicit reference to the police. Far fewer explicitly used terms denoting active support, like “antiracism” or “Black Lives Matter.” Only a minority of institutions made reference to the killing of George Floyd by the police, and most failed to address this country's targeted, historically engrained, and sustained oppression of Black people through white supremacy. Thus, there remain significant opportunities for U.S. medical schools to exert meaningful leadership in public health.

Women Leaders in Syria in the COVID-19 Response and Beyond

Abstract. Providing a powerful platform to openly discuss how we, as a global community, can advance the role of women as leaders in health in conflict-affected settings is an undervalued opportunity. Honest, evidence-based discussions, holistic approaches, and increasing the visibility of women role models are imperative in settings that are debilitated by conflict and restrictive gender norms. When gender equity and equality are not prioritized, we tend to consciously or not overlook the needs of half the population. In the face of a global pandemic, it is ever more pressing to ensure that such discussions continue and are not relegated. The evidence is overwhelming, COVID-19 impacts women disproportionately, and this is exacerbated in conflict settings. The reflections in this commentary are based on a webinar held on October 21, 2020, supported by the Women Leaders in Health and Conflict initiative ( Abbara et al., 2020 ). The panelists included Dr. Aula Abbara, Dr. Abdulkarim Ekzayez, and Dr. Ola Fahham, and the webinar was attended by 30 participants from across the Middle East and the United Kingdom. We examine three key themes: women's role in the health sector in Syria, education and culture, and meaningful leadership.

How do teachers perceive meaningful leadership? Overview of a qualitative exploration

Leaders’ self-realization and their intra-group behaviors at work are influenced by elements such as a sense of meaningful purpose and intrinsic motivation. This study aims to construct a model of meaningful leadership, based on the values, aspirations, and attitudes of a leader and how these qualities help them develop positive organizational cultures. The research, based on constructivist grounded theory design, utilized semi-structured interview technique with 15 teachers, examining their perceptions of meaningfulness and leadership. These interviews revealed ten core dimensions of meaningful leadership: An ultimate purpose in life, sharing meaning, understanding, linking the past, present, and future, wisdom, peacefulness, a sense of ethics, serving others, inner motivation, and fostering unity. These dimensions can be considered essential when identifying meaningful leaders. This proposed model of leadership, with a focus on meaningfulness, can play a pivotal role in an organization by contributing to self-realization of members and ensuring the unity of purpose. In educational organizations, a meaningful leadership approach can leverage leaders’ efforts by providing an intrinsic motivation source for all school members.

MEANINGFUL LEADERSHIP: HOW CAN LEADER CONTRIBUTE TO MEANINGFUL WORK? THE MEDIATING ROLE OF COOPERATIVENESS

This study observes the query of how leader can contribute to meaningful work. How leader can contribute to their own meaningful work and also for their employees. The basic drive of this research is to explore the effect of meaningful leadership, through cooperativeness of employees how leader can subsidize to their meaningful work. Data were collected through online survey in this pandemic condition. A descriptive cross sectional survey strategy was used for this research. The data for this study were taken from public and private organizations. A 302 online questionnaires were sent among different respondents. A close ended questionnaire used for this research that is related to leaders. A cross sectional quantitative research (close ended questions) design was adopted. A purposive sampling technique was used for this research. A generally result of this study is that mediating variable cooperativeness strengthen the relationship between independent variable of meaningful leadership and dependent variable of meaningful work When meaningful leader fully collaborate with their employees and the leader of organization is supportive than employee become more satisfied, motivated, and inspired and committed with their meaningful work.

Meaningful Leadership: How Can Leaders Contribute to Meaningful Work?

This study addresses the question of how leaders can contribute to their own meaningful work and to the meaningful work of their employees. Based on 42 interviews with leaders, including 27 life story interviews, our article examines the extent to which leaders give meaning to leadership practices that are regarded by the existing literature as factors contributing to meaningful work. This article provides new insights into the concept of meaningful leadership that complements meaningful work theories. Our first contribution is identifying new components of meaning related to leadership activity: moral exemplarity, self-awareness, personal or professional support, community spirit, shared work commitment and positive attitude towards individuals and situations. Second, we also delineate the dynamics of meaningful leadership related to leaders’ past experiences and employees’ meaningful work. We contend that awareness of these components and dynamics can help leaders encourage employees’ meaningful work while making sense of their own leadership activity.

CULTIVATINGINNOVATIVETEEN-LEADERSHIPPROGRAMMING: BUILDING EVIDENCE OF IMPACT

The Teen Excellence in Leadership Institute (TELI) was created to provide meaningful leadership and civic- engagementexperiencestoteens.WeintegratedChickering’sTheoryofIdentityDevelopmentandthe 4-H Citizenship Framework to develop program objectives and a model, consisting of four components: understanding of self, developing a network, community problem solving, and advocacy. This study aimed to determinetheoveralleffectivenessoftheprogram,highlightareasforprogramimprovement,andprovide a proof of concept for the model. Results on select 4-H Citizenship Common Measures indicated statistically significantgainsinthefourcomponentsofthemodelforcohortsoneandtwo.Focusgroupdatarevealed five themes: diversity, connection, skill development, practical application, and learning about self. Evaluative resultssubstantiateprogramimpactandareasforcontinuedprogramdevelopment.

Peer Teaching in High-Fidelity Simulation: Participant Experiences and Reflections.

Peer teaching provides students with opportunities to experience the educator role and increase self-confidence and problem-solving skills. To address the shortage of meaningful leadership experiences for senior baccalaureate nursing students, faculty implemented an alternative leadership experience involving senior students taking on the role of peer teachers in the high-fidelity simulation (HFS) laboratory. We conducted focus groups to assess peer teachers and learners' experiences and used thematic analysis to examine and interpret the data. Findings included the intersection of learning, HFS, clinical experience, and teaching; the benefits of practicing teaching in a safe environment; how empathy enhanced understanding of the continuum of expertise; and power differentials experienced by peer teachers and learners.

Managing the Ebb and Flow:


 
 
 This case study explored how a principal in a suburban elementary school in the northeastern United States empowered students and used student voice to develop his own leadership. The researchers collected and analyzed data in the form of observations, principal interviews, and student focus groups. Results and discussion describe and explain how the principal engaged with students’ perspectives to structure his experiences of school and learn- ing. Also, results indicate that the principal’s self- awareness of his instructional leadership actions, particularly regarding the inclusion of student voice and agency, is critical for effective and meaningful leadership. This case provides a new direction for develop- ing and practicing school leaders to consider self- evaluation, and reflection as part of ongoing leadership improvement, framed by the research-based concepts of instructional leadership, student voice, and perceptual congruence. Finally, the case study provides an opportunity for the field of educational research to open meaningful and often-overlooked discussions emphasizing the value of including students in models of shared instructional leadership and empowering youth as learners and leaders in their own right.