Mid-level Leaders Research Articles

Leadership at a local level – Enhancing educational development

This paper explores, mainly through a socio-cultural perspective, the role of mid-level leadership in higher education in relation to educational development. It is argued that supporting and engaging local-level leaders, such as academic programme directors, increases the potential for development of local teaching and learning cultures. The paper describes a programme in a research-intensive university, where leaders conduct scholarly projects focused on contextualised educational development and leadership. Projects are reported in writing and peer-reviewed within the programme. In this article 25 project reports are analysed through a framework focusing on the relational and contextual aspects of leadership. Four projects are specifically elaborated to illustrate important aspects of leadership that become visible through the analysis. These aspects relate to external and internal mandates to lead, i.e. the potential actions available to leaders when navigating the need to build and maintain legitimacy in the formal organisation as well as in the group/s that they as leaders try to influence.

Shared governance and the sustainable college

Purpose– This project aims to examine interpersonal interactions at the committee level that lead to shared governance of a college's environmental responsibilities. It demonstrates the important role shared governance plays in integrating sustainability into a liberal arts college.Design/methodology/approach– This paper combines participant observation and case study techniques. From September 2010 to October 2012, the author participated in 46 meetings and conducted 14 interviews with key informants.Findings– Key challenges to efficiency and effectiveness of the shared governance process differ depending on whether the committee was involved in visioning or validation work. Key drivers included mid-level leadership, a commitment to the mandate, and a willingness to engage in an ongoing process of shared understanding.Research limitations/implications– This study's findings are limited insofar as inaccuracies may arise due to respondents' poor recall, the interviewer's questions, if the interviewee gives the interviewer what she wants to hear, and if events observed may have proceeded differently because it was being observed.Practical implications– This study provides insight into the process of change leading up to implementation of sustainability practices. It highlights strategic and value convergence, provides a clear example of mid-level leadership driving change through an emergent process, and which required commitment to the original mandate, the ongoing ability to create shared understanding, and the ability of faculty and administrators to move from independent to consultative action.Originality/value– Sustainability in higher education often begins with shared governance in a committee. However, little research on shared governance exists at the committee level, and none focuses on the unique challenge of systemic change for sustainability. This project begins to fill that gap.

Using a Common Vision of Partners in Care to Enhance Hospital Collaborative Relationships

Background: Collaborative care is a philosophy that guides the work of interdisciplinary teams, patients, and their families internationally. Hospital organizations must create and cultivate environments to meet customer, health policy, and legislative mandates for improved collaborative care. This study aimed to inform and aid cultural change related to collaborative care relationships with the goal of improving the quality of care.Methods and Findings: A critical ethnography using mixed methodologies was conducted at a mid-sized non-acute hospital in Ontario, Canada. This article presents Phase 3 of a three-phase study that engaged senior leaders (SLs) in interviews about customer service and collaborative relationships. Phase 3 findings were triangulated with prior Phase 1 study results from healthcare providers (HCPs) and Phase 2 results from mid-level leaders (MLLs). The combined findings from all three phases formed a description of the organization’s culture (self-awareness, congruency, and health), explicated five organizational tensions, and generated questions and innovative change ideas to advance growth toward a shared vision of “partners in care.”Conclusions: A shared conceptual model of partners in care emerged from the shared conversations held in the research focus groups and interviews over the three phases in the study. Organizational questions, tensions, and possibilities were revealed to advance the culture of collaboration with patients, families, and staff. Innovations were identified and implemented to enhance collaborative practice.

How Does the Kingpin Strategy Affect Violence? The Case of Mexico

Many governments target leaders of violent groups, but consequences of this strategy are unclear. Additionally, most studies examine political groups such as terrorists, ignoring criminal organizations – even though they can represent serious threats to security. This article presents a theoretical framework for how political and criminal groups differ, and uses the framework to explain how group type should condition leadership removal’s effects. Decapitation should weaken criminal organizations, temporarily reducing violence. However, as groups fragment and newer groups emerge to address market demands, violence increases in the longer term. Empirical analysis using original data on Mexican criminal organizations generally supports the argument. Interestingly, the short-term violence reduction is only associated with leaders arrested (not killed), and the reduction is more robust when the target is a mid-level leader, as opposed to the top leader. These results differ markedly from those found in studies of political groups.

‘A room with a view’ Emphasizing experiences

This paper describes a study of how the phenomenon of reflection on experience contributes to development of practical knowledge. Reflection on experiences and reflective practice are frequent themes in research reports and within Health and Social Workers’ practice, as well as in different post-educational programmes in mentoring. Data were collected through two focus-group discussions with twelve mid-level leaders in Norway. In addition, the analysis was inspired by an interpretation drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology. The results show what a leader can adapt and learn from mentoring in a practical training programme, and how to use this mentoring to develop practical knowledge within the organisation. The study concluded that there is a need for mentoring in practice, a room for critical reflection on experience and practice within a health organization. Practitioners have to be critical and reflective on their judgment in action, or ethical dilemmas of clinical experiences that filter and mirror their practice.

"We Are the Ones Who Are Out in Front": Women's Leadership in the Immigrant Rights Movement

"We Are the Ones Who Are Out in Front": Women'sLeadership in the ImmigrantRightsMovement RuthMilkman and VeronicaTernquez A striking feature of the contemporary immigrant rights move ment in the United States is the extensive presence of women in formal leadership roles. Women are not only highly visible as grass roots and mid-level leaders but also as executive directors of lead ing immigrant rights organizations and in other high-level positions. In this regard, the immigrant rights movement is an anomaly, since men dominate the top leadership roles in most US social movements and the organizations linked to them.1 The immigrant rights movement is national in scope, as was revealed by the massive 2006 street marches across the nation pro testing proposed changes to US immigration law. Prominent female immigrant rights leaders can be found throughout the United States.2 We focus here on the role of female leaders in Los Angeles, where a disproportionate share of immigrant rights organizations are head quartered. Home to the nation's single largest concentration of unau thorized immigrants, southern California has the immigrant move ment's deepest base of popular support. And unlike regions with more diverse foreign-born populations, the immigrant community in the Los Angeles area is highly cohesive, due to its relative linguistic homo geneity: Mexicans and Central Americans comprise the majority of the area's foreign-born population and an even greater proportion of its unauthorized immigrants.3 In recent years, moreover, Los Angeles FeministStudies38, no. 3 (Fall 2012). © 2012 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 723 724 Ruth Milkman and Veronica Terriquez has become the nation's leading laboratory of immigrant labor orga nizing, especially among Latinos.4 The LA immigrant rights movement includes four major seg ments: (a) service-sector labor unions with substantial foreign-born memberships; (b) immigrant hometown associations (HTAs) and ethnic organizations; (c) community-based organizations (CBOs), including "worker centers" as well as umbrella organizations that func tion as coalition-builders; and (d) student immigrant rights groups.5 The nature and extent of women's leadership varies considerably among these segments, as we show below. The variation enriches our analysis, exposing the dynamics of women's leadership in the move ment as a whole. Our inquiry focuses specifically on Latinas, who pre dominate among top-level female immigrant leaders in Los Angeles. The contemporary immigrant rights movement has two key dimensions. It is a civil rights movement, seeking a path to legal status and other fundamental rights for the nation's unauthorized immi grants. But it is also a labor movement, in the broadest sense of the term, promoting economic advancement for immigrants and their children. However, women's prominence among high-level leaders in the immigrant rights movement differentiates it from other US civil rights and labor movements, in which women are typically lim ited to intermediate and lower level positions while men monopolize the top leadership roles.6 In earlier Latino movements, similarly, men comprised the overwhelming majority of high-level leaders, as for example in the United Farm Workers and the Chicano movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Why is the immigrant rights movement different? We propose a three-pronged explanation. First, an ample supplyof female leaders has been generated by the migration process itself—which, as many commentators have noted, often improves the status of female immi grants and draws them into the public sphere. Second, because the immigrant rights movement is relatively new and has grown dramat ically since the late 1980s, it has generated extensive demandfor new leadership—in the context of a late twentieth century political cul ture that is broadly supportive of gender equity. The third factor is the feminist consciousness of immigrant women leaders themselves. Although more often expressed behind closed doors than in public, feminism Ruth Milkman and Veronica Terriquez 725 has served as a vital resource for many of these women, helping them overcome obstacles along the path to leadership roles. Gender and Migration The literature on the gender dynamics of immigration from Latin America to the United States offers a starting point for our analysis. One key finding in that literature is that, despite the difficulties asso ciated with the migration process, it...

An empowerment framework for nursing leadership development: supporting evidence

This article is a report on a descriptive study of nurse leaders' perspectives of the outcomes of a formal leadership programme. Effective nurse leaders are necessary to address complex issues associated with healthcare systems reforms. Little is known about the types of leadership development programmes that most effectively prepare nurse leaders for healthcare challenges. When nurse leaders use structural and psychological empowerment strategies, the results are safer work environments and better nurse outcomes. The leadership development programme associated with this study is based on a unifying theoretical empowerment framework to empower nurse leaders and enable them to empower others. Twenty seven front-line and mid-level nurse leaders with variable years of experience were interviewed for 1 year after participating in a formal leadership development programme. Data were gathered in 2008-2009 from four programme cohorts. Four researchers independently developed code categories and themes using qualitative content analysis. Evidence of leadership development programme empowerment included nurse leader reports of increased self-confidence with respect to carrying out their roles and responsibilities; positive changes in their leadership styles; and perceptions of staff recognition of positive stylistic changes. Regardless of years of experience, mid-level leaders had a broader appreciation of practice environment issues than front-line leaders. Time for reflection was valuable to all participants, and front-line leaders, in particular, appreciated the time to discuss nurse-specific issues with their colleagues. This study provides evidence that a theoretical empowerment framework and strategies can empower nurse leaders, potentially resulting in staff empowerment.

The Relationship Between the Mid-Level Leader and Follower Commitment

The major goal of this research was to determine whether the mid-level leader’s emotional competence as perceived by followers influenced commitment. This quantitative research study attempted to establish whether follower commitment, influenced by follower perceptions of the leader’s emotional competence impacted change strategies. Correlation testing of the data indicated a strong relationship between the mid-level leader’s emotional competence and follower commitment. Results of the research suggest that as organizations continue to experience high levels of change, modifications in how the psychological contract is negotiated between mid-level leaders and their followers have created the need for a new paradigm shift. This justified shift may be needed to move from archaic forms of organizational commitment theory to a follower commitment theory that encourages higher levels of follower involvement in and commitment to leader-led vision and goals.

Building a Path Toward High-Performance Leadership

Strategizing the future of an organization requires a seamless integration between formulation and implementation. Carpenter and Sanders (2009) stated that well formulated plans are meaningful only when they are well-executed. Executing the strategy involves top-level managers and mid-level leaders who connect to the big picture communicated by the strategic leader. The intended strategy can only become realized strategy when strategic leaders use the appropriate implementation levers and their ability to allocate resources and draw support from stakeholders. A plan of action toward resonant leadership requires learning agendas that are flexible, feasible and personal.

Remarks by Theodor Meron

Thank you, Dean, for your kind remarks. First, a few words about the role of the ICTY. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia is, as you all know, the court of law established under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to address grave international crimes that took place in the Balkans in the 1990s. Its mandate, more specifically, is to bring to justice those individuals alleged to be responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991, and thus contribute to the restoration and maintenance of peace in the region. The ICTY's indictments have charged 161 persons, including heads of state, prime ministers, army chiefs of staff, interior ministers, and many other high- and mid-level political, military, and police leaders from various parties to the Yugoslav conflicts. Notably, as you all know, the ICTY was the first war crimes tribunal created by the United Nations and the first truly international war crimes tribunal since the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals, which were founded in the wake of the Second World War and were, in effect, occupation courts. The establishment of the ICTY and its sister tribunal, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in the early 1990s not only helped to lead the way for the establishment of a number of other ad hoc international criminal courts, but demonstrated that the international community was fully committed to ending the impunity for the gravest of international crimes by making international criminal justice a reality. The ICTY and the ICTR were also an important catalyst for the adoption of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. In addition, the ICTY has contributed to the international legal system in a far more straightforward manner through its cases and its jurisprudence. In case after case, the Chambers of the ICTY have shown that it is possible and practical to apply international criminal and humanitarian law in actual cases, not just a few times, as in Nuremberg, but repeatedly and in ways consistent with fair trial principles. The ICTY Chambers have construed, clarified, and applied customary humanitarian law, helping to articulate and strengthen norms concerning the protection of civilians and modes of individual criminal responsibility and firmly rooting its jurisprudence in the principle of legality. No less important, the decisions and judgments of the ICTY have also addressed a wide variety of procedural and evidentiary issues by reference to international standards, thus creating--perhaps for the first time--an important corpus of procedural law to which both international courts and national jurisdiction may refer. And even the factual determinations in the ICTY cases have contributed to the international legal system, as in the ICJ's ruling in the Genocide Case, where the ICJ's reliance on factual determinations by the ICTY in the Krstic case proved essential to the conclusions reached by the ICJ. Finally, the ICTY has made, and continues to make, important contributions to the strengthening of competent national judicial systems and the rule of law in the region of the former Yugoslavia. Indeed, thanks in great part to the ICTY's initiative and the support of the international community, specialized mechanisms for war crimes prosecutions have now been established in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia, including the Special War Crimes Chamber in Sarajevo. Meanwhile, the training of legal professionals and witness support staff in the region by their ICTY counterparts has facilitated the implementation of international standards and best practices within the local judiciaries. These developments, while taking place on a national level, contribute in a meaningful way to global goals concerning the rule of the law. I turn to the implications of collocation at The Hague of tribunals and dynamics among courts situated at The Hague. …

Paradigms of Political Mythologies and Perspectives of Reconciliation in the Case of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

AbstractIt is widely held that reconciliation follows conflict resolution. However, in the case of “frozen” conflicts, where the negotiation process is protracted and reconciliation is postponed for years, negative transformations take root. In this respect, attention to the past cannot be overestimated. How the past is framed in the domestic public sphere is an indicator of potential positive or negative transformation. By analyzing the frames of political mythology, the elements of ethnic identity and the historicisms based on divergent narratives of the political discourse in rivaling Armenia and Azerbaijan, this article argues that discourse transformation is vital to a successful reconciliation process where the role of mid-level leaders is crucial. While political mythology forces events by creating a context for negative transformation of the conflict, peacebuilding can support a protracted pre-settlement phase (’no peace, no war’) and can also facilitate the conflict settlement process through positive transformation. In order to cope with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, at least in its relational aspect, the whole discourse infrastructure must be transformed. For this to happen, peacebuilding must be linked to reconciliation goals.

Formalizing Teaching Responsibilities for Junior Surgical Housestaff Encourages Educator Development

Resident-led teaching on surgical services is typically disorganized, and the primary responsibility is often unassigned. Creation of a specified role of "teaching resident" (TR) is hypothesized to encourage residents to teach more, develop leadership skills, and enhance medical student clerkship experiences. All residents in general surgery training at the University of California, San Francisco, were surveyed to determine perceptions of teaching responsibility. Independently, second-year residents were solicited for voluntary participation in a TR program that gave them primary responsibility for teaching medical students assigned to their services during a 1-month rotation. After completion of the TR rotation, these residents evaluated the TR experience with their prior rotation at the same hospital (which had the same service structure but no TR duties). Medical student clerkship evaluations were reviewed to compare experiences between the 2 periods as well. Overall response rate for the general survey administered to all residents was 93% (67/72). All 6 second-year residents rotating through the designated services over a 6-month period volunteered to participate, but 2 did not have assigned medical students. Evaluations of the TR program were thus completed by 100% (4/4) residents. Time spent teaching medical students increased significantly, from 0.625 hours/week pre-TR to 2.75 hours/week during TR (p = 0.0026). All felt that teaching skills and motivation to teach increased, and 75% also reported improvement in leadership skills. Medical student scores on a 5-point scale revealed an increase in clinical instruction from 2.17 pre-TR to 3.25 (p = 0.0054). Satisfaction of clerkship objectives also increased from 3.17 pre-TR to 3.75 (p = 0.038). Junior surgical residents have interest in teaching, and their time spent doing so is significantly increased by the specific assignment of responsibility in a mid-level leadership role. Both residents and students benefit from this clinical service structure. Further formal development and program evaluation are in progress.

Implementation of Integrated Dual Disorders Treatment: A Qualitative Analysis of Facilitators and Barriers

Implementation of Integrated Dual Disorders Treatment: A Qualitative Analysis of Facilitators and Barriers

‘A room with a view’ Emphasizing experiences

This paper describes a study of how the phenomenon of reflection on experience contributes to development of practical knowledge. Reflection on experiences and reflective practice are frequent themes in research reports and within Health and Social Workers' practice, as well as in different post-educational programmes in mentoring. Data were collected through two focus-group discussions with twelve mid-level leaders in Norway. In addition, the analysis was inspired by an interpretation drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology. The results show what a leader can adapt and learn from mentoring in a practical training programme, and how to use this mentoring to develop practical knowledge within the organisation. The study concluded that there is a need for mentoring in practice, a room for critical reflection on experience and practice within a health organization. Practitioners have to be critical and reflective on their judgment in action, or ethical dilemmas of clinical experiences that filter and mirror their practice.

Midlevel Leaders of Continuing Higher Education: Exploring Their Satisfaction, Morale, and Intentions to Stay In or Leave Their Positions

Midlevel Leaders of Continuing Higher Education: Exploring Their Satisfaction, Morale, and Intentions to Stay In or Leave Their Positions

The Ninth Day

ABSTRACT Volker Schloondorff for the first time directly approaches the subject of religious faith in portraying Henri Kremer, a Catholic priest imprisoned at Dachau. The director9s meticulous style con-trasts Golgotha-like images of torture and deprivation with abstract ethical dialogues between the priest and a former seminarian turned mid-level Nazi leader.

A national study on midlevel leaders in higher education: The unsung professionals in the academy

A national study was conducted toexamine the quality of midlevel leaders'worklife, satisfaction, morale and theirintentions to leave. The study included 4,000midlevel leaders who were randomly selectedfrom a total national population of 11,300 fromboth public and private institutions withinfive Carnegie classifications (e.g.,Doctoral/research-extensives and intensives,Baccalaureate generals and Liberal arts) acrossthe United States. Three separate mailingsyielded 2,000 responses for a 50 percent returnrate and 1966 useable surveys. Midlevel leadersare defined as academic or non-academic supportpersonnel within the structure of highereducation organizations (e.g., directors andcoordinators of admissions, institutionalresearch, registrars, computing and technology,human resources, alumni affairs, studentaffairs, placement and counseling services,financial aid, development and planned giving).This national study proposes: (1) to examinethose demographic characteristics and worklifeissues that may have an impact on theperceptions of midlevel leaders' morale,satisfaction and intent to leave; and (2) todemonstrate the role satisfaction and moralehas on midlevel leaders' intentions to stay orleave their current position or career. Thefindings indicate that individual perceptionsof midlevel leaders' professional andinstitutional worklife are powerful variablesthat have an impact on their satisfaction,morale, and turnover intentions.

Engaged, But Not Heroic, Academic Leadership

Over the years, I have explored leadership challenges faced by department chairpersons and school deans. In this essay I reflect on some findings, noting that they also apply to other educational leaders such as faculty senate members and student affairs officers. Most mid-level leaders struggle with the tradition of defining leadership in terms of individualistic values and mythologies of seeing the leader in terms of the individualistic, heroic cowboy of the Western film and novel. Then I examine the position of institutional president. Here too some leaders aim to be heroic figures, like the fabled cowboy. Almost inevitably, their behaviors foster campus suspicion, fragmentation, and isolation. Other presidents are closer to the relational individualism for which I argue. They model the importance of conversation by practicing hospitality and honoring covenant. One obvious difference between midlevel leaders and presidents is the larger platform the latter possess to set the philosophical, moral, and spiritual tone of the institution. If the tone is hospitable, midlevel leaders find their tasks easier and more fulfilling. If executive leadership is not hospitable, however, chairpersons and deans report their positions to be both more difficult and more important.

Six critical issues for midlevel leadership in postsecondary settings

AbstractThe complex responsibilities of academic leadership require multidimensional training, exemplified in the six principles undergirding the internationally recognized program examined here.

The Politics of Introducing Direct Township Elections in China

Based on archival sources and interviews, this article relates the untold story behind several township elections. It shows that these experiments were largely the result of a discursive opening on expanding grassroots democracy, and efforts by local leaders to promote their careers by taking the lead in initiating electoral reforms. It suggests that over two decades of post-Mao reform may have encouraged a belief among some local officials that history is on the reformers' side. It also suggests that the current cadre management system may enable mid-level leaders to introduce political reforms at a lower level without seeking prior approval from their superiors. The article argues that succession politics may re-open the door for further electoral reform and that the international community can offer protection to local initiatives by pressing the Chinese government to improve its human rights record.