Perceptions Of Leadership Research Articles

Human-AI interaction: Augmenting decision-making for IT leader's project selection

This research seeks to determine whether IT leaders are willing to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) recommendations to augment their decision-making when considering which IT projects to select based on the projects’ contribution towards organizational goals and objectives and the IT leaders’ level of knowledge and trust in AI. The research design utilized a quantitative survey of 113 IT leaders to understand their willingness to accept AI recommendations that augment their own decision-making while considering organizational criteria for selecting the best IT projects to invest in. AI recommendations were measured based on factors contained within a conceptual AI-driven online recommendation system, while decision-making was measured based on factors such as uncertainty, consequences of decisions, information & goals, motivation, and self-regulation that were designed and validated to examine certain aspects that influence decision-making. IT project contributions were measured based on relevance, risk, reasonableness, basis research return, and business return associated with the project. The research results showed the relationship between IT Project Contributions and IT leader decision was significant in that the leader's perception of IT project contributions towards organizational goals and objectives has a positive influence on the IT project selection decision. Unfortunately, the remaining hypothesized relationships showed no significant outcomes. The research results did not show that IT Leader Decisions may be influenced by AI recommendations, nor the greater knowledge of AI an IT Leader has, the stronger the relationship will be in support of or against AI recommendations, nor that the greater trust in AI an IT Leader has, the stronger the relationship will be in support of or against AI recommendations. This research will provide important insights to understand IT project selection and human-AI collaboration by IT leaders in organizations.

Journey toward Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative designation: Healthcare professional's view on successful implementation process and maintenance of accreditation

ProblemThe Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative has yet to achieve widespread global implementation. BackgroundThe implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative has been recognised as complex. The challenge has been to maintain accreditation. AimTo explore and gain a deeper understanding of the healthcare professionals’ perceptions of the implementation process and the maintenance of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. MethodsA qualitative descriptive study with focus groups (n = 10) of the nurses, midwives and unit leaders (n = 43) perceptions of the implementation process were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. FindingsAnalysis of the data revealed five main themes: groundwork for the baby-focused breastfeeding context, management support throughout the process, promoting baby-friendly practices, effective communication ensuring the right track, and supporting the maintenance of BFHI designation. The main themes describe the implementation as a journey of climbing a hill and after reaching the top trying to maintain their position. DiscussionThe starting point for implementation was an optimal environment supporting baby-friendly breastfeeding practices. The support of the management of the organisation was an important way of moving the implementation forward. Commitment to the common goal strengthened the baby-friendly approach and with concrete and immediate feedback the right pathway on a journey was ensured. ConclusionPractical ways to support the implementation journey include regular update education on breastfeeding and continuous monitoring, as well as providing statistics to health professionals. Global guidelines on how to sustain change are needed. This will ensure that the work done is not wasted.

Knowledge and perceptions of religious leaders towards HIV prevention among young people in Lira district, Northern Uganda: a qualitative study

BackgroundCurrently, 410,000 new HIV infections among youth occur worldwide, which is a significant public health issue. Members of the clergy can be trustworthy allies in the reduction of HIV infections among the youth. However, little is known regarding their knowledge as well as the perceptions they hold towards HIV prevention among young people. Thus, we explored the knowledge and perceptions of religious leaders regarding HIV prevention among young people (15–24 years) in Lira district.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional qualitative study conducted among 20 religious’ leaders in March 2021 in Lira district. Religious leaders were sampled purposively and recruited from modern religions (beliefs influenced by Christianity or Islam) in Lira district. Guides for key informant interviews were utilized to gather information. Each interview was audio recorded, transcribed, and entered into NVivo version 12 software, and the data was then ready for analysis. The main themes were determined using thematic analysis.ResultsAlthough a few individuals had some misconceptions, the majority of participants had good knowledge about the transmission and prevention of HIV. Participants knew awareness creation, abstinence, and faithfulness in marriage as HIV prevention strategies and held positive perceptions. Perceived barriers to HIV prevention involvement were lack of knowledge and training and inadequate resources, whereas motivating factors were being respected and trusted and having easy access to young people.ConclusionIn conclusion, religious leaders show limited HIV prevention knowledge due to religious beliefs, but understand the importance of measures like abstinence. Despite the challenges, their involvement is crucial. Addressing knowledge gaps and providing support is vital. Future efforts should emphasize both behavioral measures and interventions like condom use, post-exposure prophylaxis, and pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Professional learning activity in and of teacher teams: multilevel assessment of how transformational leadership, goal interdependence, and collective efficacy affect information sharing

Engaging in learning with colleagues is paramount for teachers to enhance students’ learning. To be effective and sustainable, it requires engagement both by individual teachers as well as whole teams. Surprisingly however, research examining learning activity as a characteristic of individuals in teams and a property of teams, as well as their antecedents on both levels, is still scarce. This study examined how perceptions of transformational leadership, as mediated by goal interdependence and collective-efficacy, facilitate teachers’ engagement in information sharing, and whether effects are similar for individuals and teams. Questionnaire data were analyzed using multilevel structural equation modelling. Results showed that individual engagement in information sharing and individuals’ perceptions of goal interdependence were directly impacted by transformational leadership practices. Information sharing of teams, and collective efficacy, were impacted by consistent perceptions of goal interdependence. Teachers shape their learning amongst themselves in teams, with individual support from their leader.

“I Didn’t Care About Enrollment:” Investigating Catholic School Leader Perceptions of the COVID Era Return to In-Person Instruction

ABSTRACT Many Catholic schools in the U.S. resumed in-person instruction in 2020–2021 sooner than public schools. But little research has examined whether Catholic school leaders made these decisions in light of parents’ preferences for in-person instruction. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of interviews with Catholic school leaders examining these dynamics in a single Northeastern city. Findings indicate leaders’ decisions were focused on meeting the needs of those parents who had previously made the choice to enroll students at their schools and not on increasing enrollment as its own end. Several implications of these findings are highlighted in the discussion.

The age of leadership: Meta‐analytic findings on the relationship between leader age and perceived leadership style and the moderating role of culture and industry type

AbstractManagers' leadership style has a substantial impact on employee and organizational outcomes. In the present study, we consider the role of leaders’ chronological age in predicting followers’ perceptions of their leadership style. Whereas ample research uncovers relationships between individuals’ age and how these individuals are perceived by others, little is known about how leaders’ chronological age impacts others’ perceptions of their style. Even less is known about how such relationships vary across cultures and industries. We conducted a meta‐analysis (164 unique studies; N = 397,456 observations) to explore these relationships, using the Full‐Range leadership model. We found that leader age was negatively related to perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership, and positively related to perceptions of passive leadership. Further, some of these effects varied on several cultural dimensions: The negative relationship between leader age and transformational leadership was weaker in collectivistic cultures, while the negative relationship with transactional leadership was stronger in high power distance cultures. Industry type also mattered: the relationship between leader age and both transformational and contingent reward leadership styles was amplified in the public sector. Lastly, perceptions of older leaders were more negative when ratings were provided by followers rather than the leaders themselves. Our findings offer both theoretical and practical implications for leading in an increasingly age‐diverse workforce, such as better informing the workforce of present age stereotypes and their imminent effect on organizations.

Impact of authentic leadership on nurses' well-being and quality of care in the acute care settings.

Both nurses' well-being and quality of care are top priorities of the healthcare system. Yet, there is still a gap in understanding the extent and how authentic leadership influences them. This information is needed to inform the development of effective interventions, organizational practices, and policies. Thus, this study aimed to test the mechanism by which nurses' perception of their managers' authentic leadership impacts nurses' well-being and perception of quality of care, given the role of the nursing practice environment and nurses' psychological capital. A cross-sectional design was used. This study recruited a random sample of 680 nurses from six hospitals in Saudi Arabia. A final sample of 415 completed the surveys, with a response rate of 61%. Structural equation modeling was performed to test the hypothesized model. The study showed that nurses' perceptions of authentic leadership in their managers positively and directly affect their perceptions of quality of care but do not directly affect nurses' well-being. Both the nursing practice environment and psychological capital fully mediated the relationship between authentic leadership and nurses' well-being. However, the nursing practice environment partially mediated the relationship between authentic leadership and perceptions of quality of care. The findings contribute to understanding the crucial role of authentic leaders' style in nurses' well-being and quality of care through its positive impact on the nursing practice environment and psychological capital. Designing interventions and policies that specifically target nursing managers' authentic leadership style has implications for enhancing nurses' well-being and the quality of patient care. Institutional measures are needed to help leaders practice an authentic leadership style to create a positive nursing practice environment and cultivate nurses' psychological capital, both of which contribute to nurses' well-being and attaining a better quality of care. Further work is required to highlight the outcomes of implementing an authentic leadership style relevant to other leadership styles.

Barriers and Facilitators to Using a Clinical Decision Support Tool for Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care.

Clinical decision support (CDS) tools are designed to help primary care clinicians (PCCs) implement evidence-based guidelines for chronic disease care. CDS tools may also be helpful for opioid use disorder (OUD), but only if PCCs use them in their regular workflow. This study's purpose was to understand PCC and clinic leader perceptions of barriers to using an OUD-CDS tool in primary care. PCCs and leaders (n = 13) from clinics in an integrated health system in which an OUD-CDS tool was implemented participated in semistructured qualitative interviews. Questions aimed to understand whether the CDS tool design, implementation, context, and content were barriers or facilitators to using the OUD-CDS in primary care. Recruitment stopped when thematic saturation was reached. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to generate overall themes. Five themes emerged: (1) PCCs prefer to minimize conversations about OUD risk and treatment; (2) PCCs are enthusiastic about a CDS tool that addresses a topic of interest but lack interest in treating OUD; (3) contextual barriers in primary care limit PCCs' ability to use CDS to manage OUD; (4) CDS needs to be simple and visible, save time, and add value to care; and (5) CDS has value in identifying and screening patients and facilitating referrals. This study identified several factors that impact use of an OUD-CDS tool in primary care, including PCC interest in treating OUD, contextual barriers, and CDS design. These results may help others interested in implementing CDS for OUD in primary care.

Good practice in sport science and medicine: perceptions of leaders on support and management of practitioners and teams

ABSTRACT The evaluation and delivery of good practice in the provision of Sport Science and Medicine (SSM) is clearly of interest and importance – with applied research, both anecdotal and empirical, that is burgeoning. However, no literature to date explores the role of the organisation and leader in supporting those striving to deliver good practice. The primary aim of this investigation is to explore the perceptions of experienced high-level leaders in the leadership, direction and operation of SSM practitioners and teams. A mixed methods modified Delphi technique, with three stages of investigation – a quantitative survey, individual interviews, and focus group discussions, was undertaken with 13 leaders of high-performance sport organisations in Europe and Australasia. This approach allowed expert consensus to be arrived at on a set of theoretically underpinned principles applicable to the pan regional support of good practice. A plethora of principles are offered relating to three core areas of support: organisational requirements; leadership; and practitioners´ skills and development. Importantly, a number of operational considerations for application are captured, including the impact of situational context in determining the focus and core elements of support required. Findings are particularly relevant for those leading SSM delivery – with a well led, organised and supported approach seemingly enabling good practice. In addition, results offer further empirical support to the importance of interdisciplinary teamwork, non-technical skill sets and relevant development opportunities for the practitioner. Overall, we hope the principles derived offer a practical starting point for those engaged in SSM provision.

Investigation of the Relationship Between School Principals' Toxic Leadership Behaviors and Teachers' Perceptions of Organizational Gossip

This research investigated the relationship between school principals' toxic leadership behaviors and teachers' perceptions of organizational gossip using the relational screening model. The sample consisted of 276 teachers selected through a simple random sampling method from public schools in Sakarya province. The Toxic Leadership Scale and Organizational Gossip Perceptions Scale served as data collection tools. Data analysis revealed that teachers' perceptions of toxic leadership and organizational gossip did not statistically differ based on gender or professional seniority. However, perceptions varied according to the school type in which they worked. The study found a positive relationship between teachers' perceptions of school principals' toxic leadership behaviors and levels of organizational gossip. Toxic leadership is a significant predictor of organizational gossip. The findings underscore the need for more research on the relationship between toxic leadership and organizational gossip, emphasizing the importance of reinforcing these results with qualitative studies.

A Qualitative Study on E-Sports Players’ Leadership Perceptions Regarding Their Team Coaches

Having emerged following the professionalization of digital gaming, e-sports has created its ecosystem and become a large-scale industry itself. Teams involved in this industry experience a social environment just like in other organizational structures. As e-sports is a relatively newer branch when compared to other sports branches, leadership in e-sports is not a commonly studied topic in the literature. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore leadership perceptions of e-sports players in a comprehensive way. A team coach is often considered the leader in e-sports. The study was designed according to the principles of phenomenology, which is a qualitative research method. The semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers was used as the data collection instrument. The interviews were conducted with a group of e-sports players who met the predetermined criteria for participation in the study. The data was analyzed by using the content analysis method. First, the codes were determined, and later, the categories, and finally, the themes were identified out of these categories. Accordingly, it was found that leadership in e-sports is perceived under five themes: physical characteristics, personality traits, professional qualifications, technical skills, and management skills. Finally, it can be concluded that leadership in e-sports is quite similar to leadership in other traditional sports in many ways. However, the study showed that it has unique characteristics that need studying within the framework of the digital age and technological advancements.

Leveraging Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarship to Meet Organizational Leaders' Expectations.

Background: The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree prepares nurses for engagement in practice scholarship to improve health outcomes at multiple system levels. Organizational leaders' and employers' perceptions and expectations of DNP-prepared nurses require further study. Objective: To explore the perception of organizational leaders regarding expectations and engagement of DNP-prepared nurses in practice scholarship activities. Methods: Guided by the Actualized DNP Model, a cross-sectional design was used to survey organizational leaders (N = 87) regarding DNP-prepared nurses' engagement in practice scholarship. Results: Findings indicate that 92% (n = 80) of participants believed practice scholarship should be an expectation of DNP-prepared nurses serving in a variety of roles. Of the 77 respondents to the scholarship engagement questions, 97.4% (n = 75) reported that DNP-prepared nurses engaged in one or more practice scholarship activities over the past year. Conclusions: Aligning DNP practice scholarship competencies, as outlined in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing 2021 Essentials, with organizational needs, expectations, and provision of sufficient time to support these scholarship activities is needed. Implications for Nursing: Opportunities exist for DNP-prepared nurses to articulate and demonstrate their value by conducting practice scholarship through innovative advanced nursing roles to realize organizational goals. Organizational support is necessary for practice scholarship activities to transform DNP education.

What Makes Us See Someone as a Leader? A Field Theory Approach

ABSTRACT We propose that what seems to be uniquely common to individuals perceived as leaders is that they all either meaningfully challenge the status quo or meaningfully resist challenge to the status quo over a sustained period of time. While we note that a relationship between leadership and challenge to the status quo has been alluded to in the literature, especially regarding (but not restricted to) charismatic leadership, a deeper theoretical development has been missing, particularly addressing the context of the social setting in which challenge may occur as opposed to a leader-centric view. Moreover, we observe that a commensurate connection between resistance to challenge and leadership is relatively unobserved and unexplored. We develop our argument drawing on Lewin’s field theory and propose a theoretical explanation of how leadership emerges in the perception of others consequent to the sustained invocation and interaction of situational social forces, specifically meaningful challenge, or resistance to challenge, of the status quo. The theory lends itself to empirical study. MAD statement While the field of change management recognizes the connection between Lewin’s field theory, the process of change and his classic experiments on leadership, it has missed field theory’s connection to the perception of leadership acts and, more specifically, how leadership emerges in the perception of others. We draw on Lewin’s theory to explore the process of leadership emergence. We focus on forces that challenge (and thus attempt to change) the status quo, as well as those that resist challenge (and thus resist change) to the status quo. Our paper makes a difference in extending leadership theory and practice by providing a more robust understanding of the challenge concept and its relationship to perception of leadership, with a detailed discussion about how challenging the status quo works in its social context. We also shed new light on resistance to challenge as a dimension of leadership, wherein leaders oppose change and strive to preserve the status quo. In particular, we explore the missing connection between Lewin’s field theory and leadership emergence. Moreover, we show how Lewin’s field approach can be used to empirically study the forces at work in leadership emergence.

The Unique Professional Journey of Female High School Principals in Utah

The purpose of this study was to increase awareness of the unique professional journey of female high school principals in Utah and to potentially adjust the male-gendered lens through which such leadership positions have traditionally been viewed. A narrative, phenomenological qualitative research approach was used to gather and analyze the career journeys of six female high school principals in Utah. Our findings indicated that female high school principals in Utah have experienced barriers similar to those identified in the relevant literature. Mentored support and examples of inclusive leadership practices assisted these women in moving through and beyond these barriers. Themes included expectations for female high school principals to act more like moms, failure to be recognized as the principal, perceptions of female leadership as unnatural, a woman’s voice not being heard, coaching as an effective career move for men, men freely talking down to women, not considering women for advancement, career-limiting stereotypes, women having to work harder, and the impact of mentors. We suggest that the simple sharing of rich narratives like those in this paper can invite administrators and policy makers to develop an awareness of the unique experiences of female high school principals and facilitate a reconceptualization of the high school principalship both in terms of theory as well as policy.

The Influence of Servant Leadership on Internal Career Success: An Examination of Psychological Climates and Career Progression Expectations

Servant leadership's positive effects on employee attitudes and motivations are well-documented. However, it remains unclear how and whether the employee beneficiaries of servant leadership choose to remain and thrive with their current employer. Would employees remain with employers and advance within their organizations after exposure to servant leadership, or is it possible that the advantages gained make them more inclined to explore better opportunities elsewhere? We examine this question from a social learning perspective by investigating the process through which an employee's experience of servant leadership behaviors influences their voluntary turnover and promotion attainment. We propose a serially mediated model in which an employee's perception of servant leadership increases promotion attainment while reducing voluntary turnover via perceptions of two psychological climates (caring and instrumental) and subsequent changes in employee career progression expectations. These predictions were tested in a 4-wave field study in which objective measures of turnover and employee promotions were tracked throughout a 12-month period. The results reveal support for the hypothesized serial mediation model. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this research and outline directions for future research.

Leadership's Perceptions of Palliative Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

ContextPalliative care (PC) played a leading role in the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known regarding health system leadership's perceptions. BackgroundThis study aimed to explore the perceptions, understanding, and utilization of PC before compared to during the COVID-19 pandemic among health system leadership. MethodsSemi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with leaders in a large healthcare system based in Massachusetts, United States. ResultsA total of 22 in-depth interviews were completed at four facilities. Emerging themes included the role of PC before compared to during the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitators and barriers to PC delivery, and recommendations for future practice. Participants reported that the COVID-19 pandemic increased PC utilization, reinforced positive perceptions of the specialty, and emphasized its role in maximizing healthcare efficiency. Many participants found PC financing to be a barrier to delivery; some had an inaccurate understanding of how PC is reimbursed. When asked about their recommendations for improving future practice, participants noted improvements in coordination within the healthcare system and education of healthcare providers and future physicians in primary PC skills. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that healthcare leadership increasingly understands the value of PC and its critical role within the health system and during future public health emergencies; this was further reinforced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare leadership recognizes and highlights the need to increase investments in this specialty, both financially and educationally. In doing so, healthcare costs will be lowered, patient satisfaction will increase, and care will be better coordinated.

Laughter and effective presidential leadership: A case study of Ronald Reagan as the 'great communicator'.

Former United States President Ronald Reagan's use of media and his charismatic connection with viewers earned him the moniker "the great communicator". One aspect of his charisma, the influence of elicited laughter, during a highly critical 5-minute news story by CBS reporter Leslie Stahl during the 1984 US presidential election is examined here. Two experiments examining the effects of audience laughter on perceptions of charismatic leadership are reported. In the first experiment the effects of audience laughter in response to Reagan's comments were investigated. Here, Reagan's perceived warmth as an effective leader significantly diminished when strong laughter is removed, whereas perceptions of competence remained unaffected. The second study carried out on an older cohort replicated and extended the first in a pre-registered design by considering the perception of trait charisma. Here, the presence or absence of audience laughter did not affect judgements of charisma. Additionally, the affective response before, and then after, the presentation of the news story was measured. Emotions associated with a positive appraisal all decreased after being shown the news story while emotions associated negative appraisal all increased. However, only participant anger was significantly increased when audience laughter was removed. Taken together the findings of both studies converge on the fact that subtle changes in media presentation of political leaders can have a significant effect on viewers. The findings show that even after 40 years in office the social psychological effects of presidential charisma can still influence observers.

Strategies for Creating Inclusive Schools

This manuscript explores the critical need for creating inclusive educational environments amidst the shifting demographics of the U.S. student population. By 2026, students of color are projected to comprise over half of the school population, presenting a stark contrast to the demographic composition of teachers and principals. This disparity underscores the necessity for schools to be responsive to the educational, cultural, and social needs of an increasingly diverse student body. The manuscript introduces a School Inclusion Model (SIM) developed and implemented to address these challenges. The SIM focuses on leadership, organizational justice, and school outcomes as core elements for fostering inclusivity. Through a multi-phased project involving planning, implementation, and evaluation in a district experiencing significant demographic shifts, the SIM demonstrated positive outcomes in changing teacher and leader perceptions towards inclusivity, enhancing parent engagement, and improving school climate. The findings underscore the importance of intentional, coordinated efforts in cultivating inclusive school environments where students of all backgrounds feel a sense of belonging and equity.

Relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, performance, and environment from the perceptcion of cooperative managers

Entrepreneurial orientation assists in the strategic decision-making process in which managers define organizational purposes, thus seeking to create competitive advantage. The study evaluates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), performance, and environment based on the perception of cooperative leaders. For EO the dimensions of Miller (1983) were used, for environment the proposal of Duncan (1972) and performance was measured subjectively. The approach is quantitative, with a descriptive-correlational character. OE and performance were analyzed by factor analysis. The perception of the environment made it possible to perform “Anovas”, which showed significant differences for the second factor of OE. The correlations between OE and performance were positive and significant. The regressions for performance with EO as predictor were not affected by the environment, indicating lack of influence.

Formal leadership perceptions about the autonomy of Pharmacy: a SWOT analysis

Introduction: Autonomy is considered a vital principle of professionalism. In recent years, despite important advances, the Pharmacy and pharmacists' autonomy has been questioned due to conflicts that jeopardize the consolidation of this profession in the division of work in health. Objective: to understand the construct of autonomy based on perceptions of formal leaders associated with professional organizations. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted through interviews with key informants. The data obtained were submitted to content analysis. Results: Perceptions about the autonomy in pharmaceutical practice were categorized according to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to this construct. Conclusion: The findings allowed us to understand the autonomy of pharmaceutical practice in Brazil, generate hypotheses about the future of Pharmacy, and build strategies to maintain its occupational status.