Achievement and Aspiration

In contrast to previous work, our study considers both meaning and mediation factors in the achievement-aspiration relationship. In a sample of graduate students ("academic-career aspirants"), we examine sex differences in the achievement- aspiration relationship as they vary with type of academic achievement and professional aspirations, and as it is mediated by individuals' perceptions of their professional roles and their faculty's support. We find: (1) Women's achievement-aspiration conversion is different from, but not necessarily lower than, men's. Rather, the strength and direction of the relationship vary with aspiration type (traditional versus alternative) and, to some extent, with specific types of academic achievement (e.g., paper publication and GPA). (2) The mediators of the achievement-aspiration relationship also vary by sex and aspiration type. Notably, women's aspirations for traditional career rewards are largely a function of their perceptions of the structural availability of job opportunity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68567/2/10.1177_073088848100800403.pd

A gender perspective on entrepreneurial leadership:female leaders in Kazakhstan

The paper proposes a conceptual model to understand female entrepreneurial leadership through an exploration of the perceptions and experiences of women entrepreneurs within their leadership roles. The paper addresses an existing knowledge gap on entrepreneurial leadership by bringing together three key constructs of gender, leadership and entrepreneurship. We apply Stewart's model of role demands-constraints-choices (DCC) to women entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan in order to understand their perceptions of the demands, constraints and choices they experience within their leadership roles. The results of in-depth interviews with women entrepreneurs present deeper conceptualization of their leadership enactment as a co-developing, co-constructed relational activity between leaders and others in their wider business environments and context

An enactive perspective on comprehending leadership: a comparative case study approach

Leadership is a significant element in the present life of organizations. Recent reviews suggest building novel frameworks through which leadership, as a phenomenon, could be understood comprehensively, considering all the aspects of human experience. The autopoietic perspective on cognition suggests that the quality of human experience is determined by the interplay between the biological and social dynamics of an active situated human agent, we enact our ‘reality’, rather than recognize one. Thus, an integrated approach to the study of any phenomenon in the social domain requires focus on the interrelatedness of the biological, mental and social aspects. This exploratory paper provides an insight into the findings of an empirical study of leadership consonant with an enactive perspective on human experience, including the biological, behavioral and social dynamics of the leadership phenomenon. The research implemented mixed methods under the umbrella of a multidisciplinary comparative case study. Heart rate variability (HRV) demonstrated as the biomarker for physiological data, semi-structured interviews, the Leadership Behavior Development Questionnaire (LBDQ) and a researcher’s reflective diary were used to collect qualitative data and assist in understanding behavioral attributes. The results indicated a correlation between physiology, attitudes and behaviors, social dynamics and performance

Extreme managers, extreme workplaces: capitalism, organizations and corporate psychopaths

This paper reports on in-depth, qualitative research carried out in England in 2013 among five organizational directors and two senior managers who had worked with other senior directors or managers who were Corporate Psychopaths, as measured by a management psychopathy measure. The Corporate Psychopaths reported on in this research displayed remarkable consistency in their approach to management to the extent that they could be called “text book examples” of managerial psychopathy. They were seen as being organizational stars and as deserving of performance awards by those above them, while the Corporate Psychopaths simultaneously subjected those below them to extreme forms of behavior, including bullying, intimidation and coercion and also engaged in extreme forms of mismanagement; such as very poor levels of personnel management, directionless leadership, miss-management of resources and outright fraud

Leading ladies: discursive constructions of women leaders in the UK media

Women continue to be economically disadvantaged and under-represented in positions of power and leadership. A discursive disjunction between cultural and media representations of women and leadership has been implicated in these continuing inequalities. We address this issue through an analysis of the ways in which prominent women leaders were portrayed in a UK radio series, BBC Radio 4’s “Profile” broadcast between July 2011 and July 2013. Verbatim transcripts of 12 broadcasts featuring women were analysed within a critical feminist framework, to explore the ways in which these women leaders were discursively constructed. Our analysis explicates three constructions of “women leaders”: as “traditionally” feminine; as having to balance “masculine” and “feminine” attributes; and as exceptional women who may nevertheless fail. We conclude that the impact of equality legislation continues to be limited while androcentric norms prevail and that we therefore need more gynocentric ways of imagining women leaders

Exodus of clergy: The role of leadership in responding to the call

Leaders play an important role in clergy’s response to their call. Toxic leadership, also known as the dark side of leadership, negatively influences their decision to remain in full-time pastoral ministry. There is a shortage of clergy in the Roman Catholic Church and a distribution or displacement challenge facing the Protestant church. This shortage adversely affects the future of the church as clergy play an integral part in the preparation of congregants for their works of service (Eph 4:11–12). The purpose of this study was to discover what factors were involved in clergy’s response to the call to full-time pastoral ministry. A practical theological grounded theory approach was used to discover the properties of the category ‘leadership’. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were coded using Glaser and Strauss’s grounded theory methodology. The category of ‘leadership’ includes properties such as favouritism, leaders abdicating responsibilities, leaders taking no action/being inactive, leaders ‘labeling’ subordinates, leaders’ ‘unethical’ behaviour, nepotism, poor conflict handling, poor handling of multi-racial issues, being placed on a pedestal, affirming subordinates and autocratic leadership style. Osmer’s descriptive-empirical task was used as a practical theological lens through which to view the category ‘leadership’. The results indicated three responses by clergy to the call to full-time pastoral ministry: not being called in the first place, a dual call (being bi-vocational or ‘seasonal’) and being called but leaving anyway because of, among other factors, toxic leadership. A steward leadership approach is recommended in response to the dark side of leadership

The embodied nurse: Interdisciplinary knowledge exchange between compassionate nursing and recent developments in embodied leadership studies

Aims: To report a potential knowledge exchange between nursing studies and the results obtained from a study conducted into the attributes of embodied leadership. Background: Leadership theories have been applied to evaluate, improve, and train nursing practitioners in several previous studies. However, leadership research has entered a new phase where the focus is to produce sustainable leaders through authenticity and compassion, the same two characteristics identified as being of most success in emergent nursing practice. There are few studies that have indicated a knowledge exchange between the latest developments in leadership studies and nursing. Design: An exploratory and qualitative study. Methods: Between February 2012 - July 2012, a focused sample of 14 medical care professionals was interviewed across a chain of hospitals. The aim was to evaluate embodied leadership characteristics and understand the factors that contribute to the manifestation of these characteristics. The transcribed interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Several factors that contribute to the characteristics of embodied leadership have been identified in the interviews and in subsequent literature searches on the characteristics and contributing factors found to be associated with nursing research. These could prompt a knowledge exchange. Conclusion: The results suggest common ground between nursing and contemporary leadership research in the exposition of behaviours; namely, being non-judgmental, listening actively, reflective practice and embracing uncertainty. Several implications can therefore be expected through the exchange of knowledge resulting from collaboration between researchers in the two disciplines

Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research

The aim of this paper is to review conceptual and empirical literature on the concept of distributed leadership (DL) in order to identify its origins, key arguments, and areas for further work. Consideration is given to the similarities and differences between DL and related concepts including ‘shared’, ‘collective’, ‘collaborative’, ‘emergent’, ‘co-‘ and ‘democratic’ leadership. Findings indicate that whilst there are some common theoretical bases, the relative usage of these concepts varies over time, between countries and between sectors. In particular, DL is a notion that has seen a rapid growth in interest since the year 2000 but research remains largely restricted to the field of school education and of proportionally more interest to UK than US-based academics. Several scholars are increasingly going to lengths to indicate that in order to be ‘distributed’ leadership need not necessarily be widely ‘shared’ or ‘democratic’ and in order to be effective there is a need to balance different ‘hybrid configurations’ of practice. The article highlights a number of areas for further attention, including three factors relating to the context of much work on DL (power and influence; organisational boundaries and context; and ethics and diversity), and three methodological and developmental challenges (ontology; research methods; and leadership development, reward and recognition). It is concluded that descriptive and normative perspectives that dominate the literature should be supplemented by more critical accounts that recognise the rhetorical and discursive significance of DL in (re)constructing leader-follower identities, mobilising collective engagement and challenging or reinforcing traditional forms of organisation

Psychopathic leadership a case study of a corporate psychopath CEO

This longitudinal case study reports on a charity in the UK which gained a new CEO who was reported by two middle managers who worked in the charity, to embody (respectively) all or most of the ten characteristics within a measure of corporate psychopathy. The leadership of this CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score was reported to be so poor that the organisation was described as being one without leadership and as a lost organisation with no direction. This paper outlines the resultant characteristics of the ensuing aimlessness and lack of drive of the organisation involved. Comparisons are made to a previous CEO in the same organisation, who was reportedly an authentic, effective and transformational leader. Outcomes under the CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score were related to bullying, staff withdrawal and turnover as effective employees stayed away from and/or left the organisation. Outcomes also included a marked organisational decline in terms of revenue, employee commitment, creativity and organisational innovativeness. The paper makes a contribution to both leadership and to corporate psychopathy research as it appears to be the first reported study of a CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score