Doing bad through being selective in doing good: the role of within-unit variability in ethical leadership

Bormann K, Poethke U, Cohrs C, Rowold J. Doing bad through being selective in doing good: the role of within-unit variability in ethical leadership. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. 2018;27(6):683-699.In this two study investigation we examined the role of ethical leadership variability defined as the differences in follower perceptions of ethical leadership with regard to the same leader. Building on a leader distance and social exchange framework, we developed a model in which a leader's span of control positively predicted ethical leadership variability, which in turn negatively affected unit job satisfaction through decreasing unit trust in the leader. Additionally, leaders' extraversion was postulated to buffer the negative indirect effect of span of control on unit job satisfaction. In Study 1, we drew a sample of 168 leaders and their 1490 immediate followers and found the expected positive indirect relationship between span of control on unit job satisfaction via ethical leadership variability. In Study 2, we analyzed a sample of 137 leaders and their 1468 followers. Results suggested that span of control was positively related to ethical leadership variability; this, in turn, was negatively related to unit job satisfaction through attenuating unit trust in the leader. As expected, extraversion reduced the negative indirect effect of span of control. Implications for ethical leadership theory, future research, and organizational practice are discussed

Transformational leadership and communication Evaluation of a two-day leadership development program

Cohrs C, Bormann K, Diebig M, Millhoff C, Pachocki K, Rowold J. Transformational leadership and communication Evaluation of a two-day leadership development program. LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL. 2019;41(1):101-117.Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and evaluate a leadership development program with focus on transformational leadership and communication. It is explored whether these aspects of leadership can be trained in the course of a two-day intervention. Furthermore, it is tested if pre-training differences among leaders have an influence on the effectiveness of participating in the leadership intervention. Design/methodology/approach In the study, 38 leaders took part in the two-day training session. The control group consisted of 59 leaders. Information was collected from participating leaders' followers (n=356) on pre- and post-training measures of transformational leadership as well as on communication skills (attentive and impression-leaving style). Findings Results show that transformational leadership behaviors improved more after training in the experimental group (EG) than they did in the control group. Also, ratings of the attentive communication style improved more in the EG compared to the control group. Furthermore, participants of the leadership development program benefitted to different degrees from their training. Participants who initially had a medium score showed the best improvement. Originality/value The present study advances the scope of leadership development by also considering the trainability of communication skills. Also, insights on the contingency of training effects are provided