Leadership Perspective Research Articles

The Hospital Turnaround That Wasn't: A Leadership Perspective

The Hospital Turnaround That Wasn't: A Leadership Perspective

‘Intersectional collaboration’: a new form of leadership from the WomenEd movement

ABSTRACT This paper takes an interest in tackling inequalities in school communities and considers how networks of change agents can work together to enact change. To do so, an ethnographic study is conducted examining WomenEd, a charity and grassroots movement of aspiring and existing women leaders in education. Building upon the perspective of collective leadership as a social process, the ‘social-symbolic work’ perspective is applied to analyse the activities of the movement. By drawing upon observations and interviews conducted over a three-year period, this paper offers detailed depictions of the motivations, practices, and effects of the social-symbolic work of WomenEd. The study observes a form of collective leadership underpinned by valuing difference, which enables participants to respond to oppressive school conditions and achieve shifts in autonomy and agential institutional influence. The study thus advances understanding of collective power, or ‘power with’, and the practical activities which can affect change, ‘power work’. Building upon Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality, we term the WomenEd practices ‘intersectional collaboration’, a novel form of collective leadership for social change. The study highlights the significance of inclusion and intersectionality in theorising ‘collectivity’, which has implications for understanding collective leadership and social change.

Well-Being and Leadership Within the Emergency Department.

Description This article looks at well-being and the role of leadership from the perspective of emergency medicine. The importance of leadership within the emergency department (ED), emergency medicine writing at large, and the prevention of burnout and compassion fatigue cannot be overstated. This article looks at the need for more research and measured interventions within the ED. It also highlights some measures that could be taken to help improve well-being from a leadership perspective to improve patient safety and outcomes within the ED.

Leading a Healthcare Organization During a Period of Social Change: A Qualitative Study of Chief Executive Officers.

In recent years, organizational leaders have faced growing pressure to respond to social and political issues. Although previous research has examined the experiences of corporate CEOs engaging in these issues, less is known about the perspectives of healthcare leaders. To explore the experiences of healthcare CEOs engaging in health-related social and political issues, with a specific focus on systemic racism and abortion policy. Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews from February to July 2023. CEOs of US-based hospitals or health systems. One-on-one interviews which were audio recorded, professionally transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. This study included 25 CEOs of US-based hospitals or health systems. Almost half were between ages 60 and 69 (12 [48%]), 19 identified as male (76%), and 20 identified as White (80%). Approximately half self-identified as Democrats (13 [55%]). Most hospitals and health systems were private non-profits (15 [60%]). The interviews organized around four domains: (1) Perspectives on their Role, (2) Factors Impacting Engagement, (3) Improving Engagement, and (4) Experiences Responding to Recent Polarizing Events. Within these four domains, nine themes emerged. CEOs described increasing pressure to engage and had mixed feelings about their role. They identified personal, organizational, and political factors that affect their engagement. CEOs identified strategies to measure the success of their engagement and also reflected on their experiences speaking out about systemic racism and abortion legislation. In this qualitative study, healthcare CEOs described mixed perspectives on their role engaging in social and political issues and identified several factors impacting engagement. CEOs cited few strategies to measure the success of their engagement. Given that healthcare leaders are increasingly asked to address policy debates, more work is needed to examine the role and impact of healthcare CEOs engaging in health-related social and political issues.

Skilled nursing facility staffing shortages: Sources, strategies, and impacts on staff who stayed.

To examine skilled nursing facility (SNF) staffing shortages across job roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to capture the perspectives of leaders on the breadth of staffing shortages and their implications on staff that stayed throughout the pandemic in order to provide recommendations for policies and practices used to strengthen the SNF workforce moving forward. For this qualitative study, we engaged a purposive national sample of SNF leaders (n = 94) in one-on-one interviews between January 2021 and December 2022. Using purposive sampling (i.e., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid quality rating, region, ownership) to capture variation in SNF organizations, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews, guided a priori by the Institute of Medicine's Model of Healthcare System Framework. Interviews were conducted via phone, audio-recorded, and transcribed. Rigorous rapid qualitative analysis was used to identify emergent themes, patterns, and relationships. SNF leaders consistently described staffing shortages spanning all job roles, including direct care (e.g., activities, nursing, social services), support services (e.g., laundry, food, environmental services), administrative staff, and leadership. Ascribed sources of shortages were multidimensional (e.g., competing salaries, family caregiving needs, burnout). The impact of shortages was felt by all staff that stayed. In addition to existing job duties, those remaining staff experienced re-distribution of essential day-to-day operational tasks (e.g., laundry) and allocation of new COVID-19 pandemic-related activities (e.g., screening). Cross-training was used to cover a wide range of job duties, including patient care. Policies are needed to support SNF staff across roles beyond direct care staff. These policies must address the system-wide drivers perpetuating staffing shortages (i.e., pay differentials, burnout) and leverage strategies (i.e., cross-training, job role flexibility) that emerged from the pandemic to ensure a sustainable SNF workforce that can meet patient needs.

Responsibility‐Oriented Perspective of Responsible Leadership: Development of a Measurement Instrument

Responsible leadership, a construct at the intersection of corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethics, and leadership, is considered to meet the conflicting demands of modern organizations by striking a balance between internal and external responsibilities. To further explore antecedents and outcomes of responsible leadership, scholars and practitioners need an instrument that can gauge the influence of responsible leadership on organizational members. The present study is a combination of four studies and is aimed at developing a measurement instrument using the sequential mixed method equal status approach. The study aims to explore responsibility‐oriented dimensions and their subdimensions that are perceived to be comparatively more relevant to responsible leadership by organizational members, while simultaneously, being supported by existing literature. An initial qualitative study, comprising 25 in‐depth interviews, revealed six responsibility‐oriented dimensions that could reliably measure the construct. Three quantitative studies, entailing collection and analysis of data for each (N = 608, 745, 800), were conducted to refine and validate the instrument. The study used the opinions of followers (organizational members) to determine the influence of responsible leadership in an organization. Based on the validity and reliability statistics of the three studies, the instrument is considered reliable for measurement of the influence of responsible leadership at individual, group, and organizational levels.

A Christian Leadership Review on Youth Self-Leadership and Self-Efficacy Relations:

Abstract: Youth have self-leadership in their leadership spirit. They have efficacy regarding their belief in themselves as leaders to work. If leadership indicates a role model, then Timothy and Titus were two role models who represent the position and role of youth from the perspective of the Christian faith. In this regard, the aim of this research was to analyze the relationship between self-leadership and self-efficacy in youth by learning from Timothy and Titus from a Christian leadership perspective. This research used a literature review approach as part of a qualitative method. Researchers found that self-leadership and self-efficacy in young people were related to reflecting the qualities of leaders and their leadership, as in Timothy and Titus. Charismatic leaders are those who exercise their leadership by focusing on God. Leadership means the ability to be selfless but to have an interest in implementing goodness. In principle, the effort to lead essentially contains Christian values, which include an emphasis on God's grace for humans. Keywords: Christian leadership, self-efficacy, self-leadership, youth

Consideration of student evaluations of teaching (SET) and learning: perspectives of learning and teaching leaders through the ethical lens of “first, do no harm”

This paper explores institutional leaders’ perceptions of learning and teaching involved in facilitating and assessing Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) survey instruments across Australian regional universities. It focuses on how they understand the function of SET, strategies used to mitigate bias, and potential residual harm. Through adopting a combination of inductive and deductive research processes and a thematic analysis through the ethical lens of nonmaleficence (first, do no harm), we report that leaders in learning and teaching perceive SET as a form of surveillance and Quality Assurance ‘performance’, recognise inherent biases inhabited in SET reports, and identify how these biases negatively impact academics through a lack of systematic harm mitigation strategies. The paper’s critical – and novel – contributions include an increased understanding of how SET inflicts harm towards women and other marginalised academic groups through systematic and authorised microaggressions and how SET contravenes universities’ duty of care to employees. It recommends an expansion of the principle of nonmaleficence beyond potential harm to research subjects, including those who undertake research or evaluation (such as academics), particularly if these impact them.

Connecting work teams in a remote workplace: an identity leadership perspective

ABSTRACT Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a shift towards remote and hybrid working practices is currently taking place in organizations worldwide. This transition creates an important challenge for workplace management to ensure that remotely working employees feel connected to their team, and the organization at large, despite the loss of frequent in-person, face-to-face interactions. We propose that identity leadership behaviours from workplace supervisors are key to ensuring such feelings of connectedness among remotely working employees. We conducted two studies among working adults in the United Kingdom to demonstrate the importance of identity leadership in a remote working context. Our first study showed that employees preferred identity leadership behaviours from their supervisors more in a remote versus an on-site working context. Results of our second study showed that identity leadership behaviours mitigate against the detrimental consequences of remote working on team connectedness and on various work-related outcomes for employees, such as their work engagement, job satisfaction, work stress and absenteeism. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as directions for future research.

Promoting gender-inclusive leadership perceptions among Japanese university students: A nine-week critical inquiry-based action learning program

The present study investigates gender equality in Japanese university students’ leadership perception and examines the changes in their perspective through a nine-week action learning program at two private Japanese universities. A mixed-methods practical action research design was employed in four upper intermediate-level first-year Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classes (N = 107). First, quantitative content analysis was performed to determine how the students perceived the concepts of leadership and gender through the images and descriptions used in their PowerPoint presentation materials. Then, the study employed qualitative content analysis to determine the changes in the students’ perceptions of gender equality in leadership through the critical inquiry-based action learning experience. The results showed that integrating gender-inclusive leadership content into the CLIL courses was effective in helping the students develop an impartial and inclusive perspective of leadership and gender. Furthermore, the critical inquiry-based action learning experience enhanced the students’ motivation for language acquisition and engagement in the CLIL courses.

Ethical challenges in residential care facilities during COVID-19: Leaders' perspective.

Person-centred care is based on ethical principles, and it is regarded as high-quality care. Care of older persons should embrace person-centredness. During the pandemic, older persons were highlighted as a vulnerable group at risk of developing serious illness and/or suffering death from COVID-19. Several pandemic-related measures were introduced in residential care facilities (RCFs) to reduce this risk, which influenced the possibilities to lead and provide a person-centred care. This study's aim was to explore ethical challenges in relation to person-centredness during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspective of leaders in RCFs. The study had a qualitative descriptive design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 leaders working in RCFs in Sweden. Data were analysed using conventional content analysis. The study was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. The participants received oral and written information about the study and gave written consent. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The overarching ethical challenge was Having to disregard the individual needs of the person in order to protect the group and society. This included (a) Protecting the group versus promoting the older person's autonomy; (b) Being forced to lead care based on uncertainty instead of evidence; (c) Striving to provide dignified care but lacking opportunities; and (d) Going far beyond ordinary duty and endangering one's own and the staff's health. The ethical challenges meant being torn between the person's individual needs and protecting the group and society, with clashing ethical principles as a consequence. The leaders faced ethical situations resulting in undignified and compromised person-centred care, which has implications for stakeholders and management who need to address the work conditions in RCFs.

“The genie is out of the bottle”: a qualitative study on the impact of COVID-19 on continuing professional development

BackgroundThe onset of the COVID-19 pandemic catalysed a monumental shift in the field of continuing professional development (CPD). Prior to this, the majority of CPD group-learning activities were offered in-person. However, the pandemic forced the field to quickly pivot towards more novel methods of learning and teaching in view of social distancing regulations. The purpose of this study was to obtain the perspectives of CPD leaders on the impact of the pandemic to elucidate trends, innovations, and potential future directions in the field.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted between April-September 2022 with 23 CPD leaders from Canada and the USA. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and de-identified. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the data and generate themes.ResultsParticipants characterised COVID-19 as compelling widespread change in the field of CPD. From the interviews, researchers generated six themes pertaining to the impact of the pandemic on CPD: (1) necessity is the mother of innovation, (2) the paradox of flexibility and accessibility, (3) we’re not going to unring the bell, (4) reimagining design and delivery, (5) creating an evaluative culture, and (6) a lifeline in times of turmoil.ConclusionThis qualitative study discusses the impact of the pandemic on the field of CPD and leaders’ vision for the future. Despite innumerable challenges, the pandemic created opportunities to reform design and delivery. Our findings indicate a necessity to maintain an innovative culture to best support learners, to improve the healthcare system, and to prepare for future emergencies.

Perceptions of South Africa’s higher education leaders on the realisation of sustainable development goal 4 quality education

Purpose Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a key role in facilitating increases in socio-economic growth and economic development. Sustainable development goal 4 (SDG 4): quality education is dedicated to ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities. This study aims to gain leadership perspectives on the extent to which South African HEIs are meeting SDG 4 and deliver insights into whether significant variances in progress exist between public and private institutions. Design/methodology/approach Integrating the sustainable development frameworks of the United Nations and times higher education impact rankings in a positivist research design, this study surveyed 16 leaders from public South African HEIs and 59 from private South African HEIs using an online survey platform. Findings Responses indicate underperformance across institutions concerning the following: the prioritisation of SDG 4 at the highest levels of management, the effective inculcation of this agenda across the entire institution, alignment between SDG 4 strategies and staff expectations and education for sustainable development and global citizenship. Public HEIs have progressed towards the realisation of SDG 4 in aspects such as access to scholarships, inclusion of first-generation students and contributions through research output. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited literature on leaders’ perceptions of progress towards SDG 4 among HEIs in developing economies.

Gentrification and the political and ideological displacement of the Philadelphia Black Worker tradition

ABSTRACT As major American cities lose Black residents in part through gentrification, the democratic political tradition they championed is being affected as well. While abundant literature documents the impacts of gentrification, less is known about political displacement. This study uses a novel theoretical framework to understand how residents rooted in the tradition of the Black Worker in Philadelphia, as defined by W. E. B. Du Bois, are impacted by the political activities of a professional managerial class (PMC). This paper argues that from the perspective of leaders in the Black Worker tradition interviewed, PMC-anchored new progressive and new urbanist movements are part of a hostile takeover of the neighborhood civic landscape and the erasure of a truly democratic political tradition. Residents reject new progressive movements for being unrooted in the city’s organic traditions, and new urbanist policies promoting density, biking, reduced parking, and multifamily zoning for eroding Black Worker neighborhoods created by progressive struggles for working-class self-determination.

Understanding ageism towards older nursing staff and service users: A systematic mapping review from the perspective of clinical leaders and healthcare managers

IntroductionAgeist attitudes negatively affect the quality of care for service users and the working conditions of older nursing staff. Clinical leaders’ perceptions of older service users and nursing staff are unknown. AimTo map research evidence on ageist attitudes in healthcare towards service users and older nursing staff, from the leadership perspective. Material and MethodsA systematic mapping review with database searches in March 2021 and May 2023). Nineteen articles (qualitative n = 13, quantitative n = 3, mixed methods n = 3) were analysed and mapped to the Nurse Executive Capability Framework. ResultsFuture planning, team building, and self-awareness are leadership categories requiring consideration. Guidelines and policies addressing the holistic needs of older service users and older nursing staff are lacking. ConclusionsOrganizational planning, team building, and self-awareness are crucial for the holistic care of older service users and for creating attractive workplaces for older nursing staff.

Prospects and Challenges of Renewable Energy in Ethiopia With Special Focus on Trends and Practices

This study aimed to explore the prospects and challenges of Renewable Energy in Ethiopia with a special focus on trends and practices. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach to understand the underlying problems of the topic holistically. The targets of the study included the Ministry of Water and Energy, the Ethiopian Energy Authority, the Ethiopia Water Technology Institute, and Ethiopian Solar Development Associations, which are responsible for leading the Renewable Energy sector of the country. A purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from sample respondents with rich experiences and exposure to Ethiopia's renewable energy sector's practices and trends through an in-depth interview, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), and document analysis of Renewable energy policy and strategy and Energy policy documents. The data were analyzed using thematic approaches. The findings revealed that Renewable Energy in Ethiopia has suffered from a lack of infrastructure and investment in renewable energy projects, technical and financial constraints in developing renewable energy technologies, regulatory and policy barriers, limited access to financing, and Intermittent nature of some renewable energy sources and challenges for grid integration and stability. Lack of strong and committed leadership is also a core problem in supporting the sector. Based on these findings, the researcher suggested that the leadership on renewable energy in Ethiopia needs to be characterized by a commitment to policy and regulatory framework implementations that support the sector's sustainable development. By formulating clear and supportive policies, the government seeks to create an enabling environment for renewable energy deployment, attract investment, and ensure the long-term viability of renewable energy projects. Overall, in alignment with the government's commitment to advance renewable energy concerning the country's broader development objectives and underscoring the transformative potential of clean energy in driving Ethiopia's sustainable growth and prosperity; the country’s leadership perspective on renewable energy needs to reflect a comprehensive and multifaceted approach that encompasses energy access, environmental sustainability, economic development, technological innovation, regional cooperation, affordability, and policy support.

When leaders and their employees disagree: investigating the consequences of differences in cognitions of workplace event criticality

PurposeCriticality cognitions regarding the same workplace event often differ between leaders and employees. Nevertheless, its consequences on employee work outcomes remain unknown. In this study, we draw on cognitive dissonance theory to examine how and why leader–employee differences in cognitions of workplace event criticality impact employee job-related outcomes.Design/methodology/approachWu used multilevel polynomial regression analyses from a time-lagged, multi-source field study with 145 leader–employee dyads to test our proposed model.FindingsLeader–employee differences in cognitions of workplace event criticality can bring both benefits and perils to employees. Specifically, such differences can cause employee rumination, which in turn leads to an increase in both employee voice and fatigue.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the event and cognitive discrepancy literature in four ways. First, prior event studies largely adopted a singular employee perspective for investigation (e.g. Chen et al., 2021; Lin et al., 2021). By examining the impacts of event criticality from the dual perspective of leaders and employees, we attain a more comprehensive understanding of the implications of workplace events in organizational life. Second, extant studies have predominantly focused on the dark side of cognitive discrepancy (e.g. Bashshur et al., 2011; Erdogan et al., 2004; Grandey et al., 2013). Our study reveals that leader–employee differences in criticality cognitions can have both a bright and a dark side on employee outcomes, offering a more balanced and dialectical view of the consequences of cognitive discrepancy. Third, drawing on cognitive dissonance theory, we introduce employee rumination as an underlying mechanism to explain the impacts of leader–employee differences in criticality cognitions on employee voice and fatigue. Finally, while prior cognitive dissonance research has primarily employed an intrapersonal perspective (e.g. Sivanathan et al., 2008; Pugh et al., 2011; Grandey et al., 2013), our study adopts an interpersonal lens and underscores that interpersonal differences in cognitions can also serve as an example of cognitive discrepancy to instigate internal dissonance processes. By doing so, we enrich our understanding of cognitive dissonance theory.

Local state leadership: State-leading groups in governing urban China

This article examines the urban development strategies and pro-growth politics in China from a local state leadership perspective, focusing on the power dynamics within the local state leadership under China’s fragmented authoritarian system. The state-leading group is an innovative governance technique intentionally designed to overcome the institutional flaws of ‘ tiao-kuai segmentation’. It plays a critical role in fostering a common vision of ‘growth promotion’, aligning goals and unifying actions in the administrative system, broadening social consensus and promoting public–private partnerships. This study improves upon the understanding of the micro-mechanisms of state-led urban development within China’s fragmented authoritarian regime by exploring the heterogeneity of state actors as well as the agency of key local political actors (groups) in aligning goals and interests within and beyond the state and their political rationalities. By highlighting the conflicts and negotiations that exist within the state, the debate on state-led urban development and pro-growth politics is extended using China as an example.

Rethinking peace and violence from the favelas

ABSTRACT This article reconsiders peace and security from the perspectives of community leaders, educators and activists in favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2019–2020. Through a critical lens, it argues that the urban violence in Rio de Janeiro resembles a form of new wars where the state is a major producer of insecurity. It questions the meaning of peace and top-down pacification processes in a city where the favelas, since their origin, have been considered dangerous areas needing to be pacified and controlled. The article introduces favela peace formation as a concept to describe alternative processes working to reduce the intersectional forms of violence in these communities: non-violent, locally legitimate peace processes working to slowly construct a positive, sustainable peace. To conclude, it discusses how favela peace formation presents a way of imagining peace as ‘care’ instead of ‘order’ in response to the state’s violent peace as ‘control’.

Dealing with the social-emotional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: School administrators’ leadership experiences in Texas, USA

The onset of COVID-19 in March 2020 presented unprecedented disruption to the education systems across the globe. Given that school leaders were at the forefront of guiding schools during the tumultuous times, the purpose of this article is to highlight the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools and examine how school leaders addressed these challenges, particularly the lingering social-emotional disruptions the students and teachers are experiencing. This qualitative study utilized an online survey to collect the perspectives of South Texas school leaders on the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are organized by: leadership experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic (lessons learned and critical practices), additional knowledge and skills (social-emotional well-being, resources to address social-emotional well-being, and parental engagement), and suggestions for preparation programs (students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) and teachers’ well-being). The scale of emerging pandemic-related challenges has left school leaders scrambling to seek innovative approaches to maintain a safe and orderly teaching and learning environment. Implementing SEL for students and educators seems to hold promise.