The leadership knowing-doing gap: a phenomenological exploration

Despite the rising interest in leadership development, building knowledge about leadership more often than not remains an end in itself, and little is known about how the transfer of leadership learning into leadership enactment is experienced by managers. This research phenomenologically explores the leadership knowing-doing gap, using semi-structured critical incident interviews with 22 managers in leadership roles across various industries and organizational levels in the United Kingdom. Findings offer a comprehensive understanding presenting the leadership knowing-doing gap as a multifaceted and dynamic experience involving cognitive, affective, and behavioral elements that interplay within the processes of creating or widening the gap on the one hand, or preventing or closing the gap on the other hand. Our proposed framework provides a conceptualization of the leadership knowing-doing gap experience that enhances the potential of identifying and operationalizing such an experience for future theory building and empirical research in both management learning and leadership development. We end with practical insights to address the leadership knowing-doing gap and highlight the importance of evaluating leadership development to evidence effective learning transfer and leadership enactment in organizations

An initial framework for the role of leader fear in the knowing-doing gap of leadership

Purpose: We take an affect-based approach to theoretically introduce and explore the knowing-doing gap of leadership. We focus on the emotion of fear that managers may experience in the workplace, and how it may influence the transfer of their leadership knowledge into leadership action. Approach: We use Affective Events Theory as our underlying theoretical lens, drawing on emotional, cognitive and behavioral mechanisms to explain the role of fear in the widening and bridging of the knowing-doing gap of leadership. Findings: We theoretically explore the interplay between leader fear, the leadership contexts and the knowing-doing gap of leadership. From this, we develop a multidimensional theoretical framework that provides a starting point for understanding fear and the knowing-doing gap of leadership. We highlight how fear and the knowing-doing gap of leadership may be influenced by and potentially impact on individual managers and their leadership contexts. Originality/value: Our initial theoretical framework provides a starting point for understanding fear and the knowing-doing gap of leadership. It has implications for future research to enhance our understanding of the topic, and contributes towards existing approaches on leadership development as well as emotions and leadership

Effects of emotional labor on leadership identity construction among healthcare hybrid managers

In this longitudinal study, we extend theory on leadership identity construction by integrating the process of emotional labor into leadership identity claims. The study aims to fulfill the gap in the relevant literature about how emotions are managed to gain relational recognition in the process of leadership identity construction, specifically among healthcare hybrid managers who fulfill both clinical and managerial duties. Using random coefficient modeling, effects of deep acting, surface acting, and genuine emotion on the change of leadership identity at the relational level were tested on a sample of 106 manager-employee dyads over three consecutive time points. The results suggest variability in both initial leadership identity and changing rates. Hybrid managers conducting effortful strategies: deep and surface acting, have lower initial leadership identity. However, the effortful strategies help hybrid managers improve their leadership identity over time, while the effortless strategy or genuine emotion negatively interacts with the process of leadership identity construction. Our findings highlight the importance of cognitive attention required in the emotional process of leadership identity construction

Cutting inserts made of glass and glass ceramics

Against the background of the increasing cost and scarcity of raw materials that are required for the manufacture of cutting tools, the question of alternative cutting materials arises. Glasses and glass ceramics represent a possibility for this, the use of which has hardly been considered so far. This thesis is devoted to the question of whether cutting tools can be made from glass and glass ceramic materials at all. In addition, the question of how such tools can be used for which purposes is dealt with. First results on both questions are presented. The grinding of indexable inserts from the materials examined was possible without breaking corners and edges. Plastics can be easily machined with the tools produced. When machining aluminum, however, the tools made of glass fail completely, while those made of glass–ceramic show good results here too. These first results are intended to pave the way for further research in this area

A bibliometric review of the leadership development field:How we got here, where we are, and where we are headed

The development of leaders and leadership is a formative research area and a considerable industry in practice. Existing reviews are often restricted in scope or by subjective inclusion of topics or documents which limits integrative implications for the leader/ship development (LD) field. We address theoretical and methodological limitations by mapping the LD field with a comprehensive, objective, and integrative review. To do so we employed three bibliometric approaches, historiography, document co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and included 2,390 primary and 78,178 secondary documents. We show patterns in the evolution of the LD field, followed by four central observations about the current state and trends in LD. To shift the science and practice of LD we develop tangible suggestions for future research within the three research directions: (1) Pursuing research within the current framing of LD, (2) Striving for frame-breaking LD research, and (3) How We Can Get There – Transforming LD Research

The impact of the Fulbright programme on participants’ leadership capacity

The Henley Centre for Leadership at Henley Business School, University of Reading, partnered with the US–UK Fulbright Commission, UK, to conduct a study with the aim of capturing and evaluating the impact that the experience of the Fulbright award has on its students’ and alumni’s leadership capacity – both during the award period and in the mid to long term, over the alumni’s careers. This research explores: the extent to which the Fulbright award helps to develop leadership capacity in programme members; what type of leadership capacity and tangible leadership behaviour is developed during the award; and how Fulbright students and alumni use this learning in their areas of responsibility and influence. The study utilises in-depth interviews with thirty-nine UK and US Fulbright students from a range of backgrounds and industries. In doing so, the study takes into account individual, contextual and programme factors that influence the impact of the Fulbright programme. The study derives the following headline insights: Part 2 shows that none of the interviewees had originally considered the enhancement of leadership capabilities to be part of the Fulbright experience. Nevertheless, the study consistently found that Fulbright influences the development of both personal growth in underlying developmental factors (such as core beliefs, confidence, experimentation, proactivity and identity) that function as generic precursors of leadership capabilities, and leadership capacities of attitudes, skills and behaviours. Such development builds not only on activities, events and processes directly provided by Fulbright, but also on the studies and experiences that are made possible by Fulbright through their award programmes. Fulbright alumni also collectively show a distinct understanding of what leadership means to them along a set of individual and relational attributes, as well as an understanding of leadership as a collective process with broad focus and outcomes (see Figure 1, page 8, for an overview). Part 3 highlights findings of how the Fulbright programme (pre, during and post award) influences the development of leadership capacity (see Figure 2, page 43, for an overview). The findings show: • how the Fulbright experience helped students to develop how they see themselves as leaders (heightened self-awareness; self-confidence; personal purpose and career trajectory; experimenting, autonomy and risk taking; proactivity; and resilience); • how the Fulbright experience helped students to develop leadership in situations of working with others (empathy; relationship skills; inspiring and involving others; speaking up; supporting others; and building confidence in others); • how the Fulbright experience developed students’ leadership regarding wider society and intercultural diversity (multicultural diversity and inclusion; legitimacy for voice and action; multidisciplinary diversity; tolerance; critical and independent inquiry; purposeful and outward-focused research; and humility and gratitude, for giving back to society). Furthermore, findings point to the impact of students’ changes in leadership capacity on their lives and careers. These findings revolve around students’ identity transformations, their personal and professional trajectories, and their continuous preference for experiences with multicultural contexts. The findings also revolve around Fulbright being a continuous resource with long-term impacts on inclusive, multicultural leadership capacity. Part 4 offers a set of distinct conclusions and recommendations separated into the following periods: • pre-programme – for example: encourage students who see themselves as a non-fit to apply; identify candidates’ motivation to experiment with leadership; sustain multi-layered diversity in cohorts • during programme – for example: create awareness of leadership learning at programme start; provide a Fulbright ‘philosophy of leadership’ • post-programme – for example: strategic shift of Fulbright activities to the post-award phase; leadership learning element of programme debrief; continuous post-programme reflexive activities for personal growth These conclusions provide a springboard to consider future initiatives that advance the leadership capacity outcome of the Fulbright journey (see Figure 3, page 46)