Relief for those who are not fans of networking: study says it's not for everyone it’s not for everyone

Is your LinkedIn profile up to date? Do you approach potential collaborators at conferences, meetings, or receptions? What about alumni gatherings? Did you remember to hand out your business card at that last event? And what about a follow-up email, just to check that person did not forget that they ran into you? Are you even active on twitter

Exploring the Dynamic Relationship of Transformational Leadership Behavior and Leader Well-Being : a Three-Wave Cross-Lagged Panel Study

Leadership behavior is associated with leader well-being. Yet, existing research, with the majority representing cross-sectional studies, limits our understanding of the association over time, potential mediating mechanisms, and potential reciprocal relations. Based on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we test between- and within-person relationships between transformational leadership and leader vigor as well as emotional exhaustion over time. In addition, we include leaders’ occupational self-efficacy, information exchange with followers, and meaning of work as mediators. 132 leaders participated in a fully cross-lagged study across three consecutive weeks. We analyzed the data with a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) that allows separating the within- and between-person variance in our variables. At the between-person level, transformational leadership was positively related to vigor, occupational self-efficacy, information exchange, and meaning of work. At the within-person level, there were no lagged associations of transformational leadership and well-being, but a positive lagged effect of vigor in one week on information exchange and meaning of work in the next week. Within one week, transformational leadership was related to occupational self-efficacy, meaning of work, and vigor (positive, respectively) and to emotional exhaustion (negative) within persons. In line with COR theory, we discuss transformational leadership as a resource for leaders associated with greater well-being for leaders. Our study contributes to the literature on dynamic leadership behavior and the mechanisms between leadership and leader well-bein

A diary study on the moderating role of leader-member exchange on the relationship between job characteristics, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion

Job characteristics play an essential role for the well-being of employees. When job characteristics are unfavorable, the experienced exchange relationship with one’s supervisor (i.e., leader-member exchange, LMX) may become relevant to weaken negative consequences. We conducted a diary study over ten consecutive working days with 112 academics. Based on conservation of resources theory, we assumed that daily LMX constitutes a resource for employees that moderates the link between job characteristics (job control and time pressure) and job satisfaction as well as emotional exhaustion. Additionally, we proposed lagged-effects of morning job characteristics and LMX on next-day morning job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Findings from hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) demonstrated that on the day-level higher perceived levels of job control in the morning were associated with higher perceived job satisfaction and lower perceived emotional exhaustion in the afternoon. The experience of increased time pressure in the morning was negatively related to perceived day-level afternoon job satisfaction and positively to perceived day-level afternoon emotional exhaustion. Within one day, perceived LMX moderated the relationship between perceived job control and perceived job satisfaction in the afternoon. We only found lagged effects of the interaction between afternoon job control and afternoon LMX on next-day morning job satisfaction. We discuss daily LMX as a resource for employees both within one day and from day-to day, along with future research directions on the buffering role of LMX

What does leadership do to the leader? : Using a pattern-oriented approach to investigate the association of daily leadership profiles and daily leader well-being

Recent research on leadership acknowledged that leadership behavior is not only related to followers’ but also to leaders’ well-being. Additionally, previous findings suggest that leadership behaviors show day-to-day variation and that multiple leadership styles can be present within one leader at the same time. Therefore, adopting an actor-centric perspective and applying a pattern-oriented approach we build on existing research to shed light on the daily relationship of leadership profiles and leader well-being. We will rely on the full-range model of leadership and conservation of resources theory to investigate (1) if daily profiles of transformational, contingent reward, management-by-exception active, management-by-exception passive, and laissez-faire leadership behaviors exist for leaders, (2) if profile membership is stable or dynamic across one week, and (3) if the leadership profiles are differentially related to leaders’ daily thriving and time pressure, as well as their daily emotional exhaustion, positive affect, and negative affect. We propose that some leadership profiles can be both beneficial (i.e., associated with increased positive affect and decreased negative affect via enhanced thriving) and harmful (i.e., associated with increased emotional exhaustion via increased time pressure) for leaders’ well-being at the same time. We will test our hypotheses in a daily diary study over five workdays (i.e., one typical working week) with two measurement points per day in a planned sample of 250 leaders and their followers. We will apply multilevel latent profile analysis to identify leadership profiles and perform BCH analysis to investigate the daily relationship of the leadership profiles and the outcomes

How leaders benefit from engaging in high-quality leader-member exchanges : a daily diary study

Purpose Drawing from the conservation of resources theory and the success resource model of job stress, the authors investigated the role of leader behaviours in the context of leader-member exchanges (LMXs) as a driver of leaders' job-related well-being and recovery. Specifically, they hypothesised positive affect and perceived competence as potential mechanisms enhancing leaders' job satisfaction and psychological detachment. Design/methodology/approach Daily diary data were collected from 85 leaders over five consecutive working days (376 daily observations) and analysed using multilevel path analyses. Findings Leader LMX behaviours were positively associated with leaders' positive affect and perceived competence at work at the person and day levels. Additionally, results provided support for most of the assumed indirect effects of leader LMX behaviours on leaders' job satisfaction and psychological detachment via positive affect and perceived competence. Practical implications Leadership development activities should raise leaders' awareness of the relevance of resourceful interactions with followers for leaders' own well-being. Organisations should create a working environment that facilitates high-quality exchanges amongst their members. The current trend towards increasing digital and less face-to-face collaboration may pose a risk to this important resource source for leaders. Originality/value These findings emphasise the day-to-day variation in leadership behaviours and that leaders' engagement in high-quality leader-follower interactions has the potential to stimulate a resource-building process for the benefit of leaders themselves

The role of star performers in software design teams

Purpose – This study seeks to extend previous research on experts with mainly ad-hoc groups from laboratory research to a field setting. Specifically, this study aims to investigate experts’ relative importance in team performance. Expertise is differentiated into two categories (task functions and team functions) and the paper aims to investigate whether experts in task and team functions predict team performance over and above the team’s average expertise level. Design/methodology/approach – Longitudinal, multi-source data from 96 professional software design engineers were used by means of hierarchical regression analyses. Findings – The results show that both expert members in task functions (i.e. behavior that aids directly in the completion of work-related activities) and the experts in team functions (i.e. facilitation of interpersonal interaction necessary to work together as a team) positively predicted team performance 12 months later over and above the team’s average expertise level. Research limitations/implications – Samples from other industry types are needed to examine the generalizability of the study findings to other occupational groups. Practical implications – For staffing, the findings suggest that experts are particularly important for the prediction of team performance. Organizations should invest effort into finding “star performers” in task and team functions in order to create effective teams. Originality/value – This paper focuses on the relationship between experts (in task functions and team functions) and team performance. It extends prior research on team composition and complements expertise research: similar to cognitive ability and personality, it is important to take into account member expertise when examining how to manage the people mix within teams. Benefits of expertise are not restricted to laboratory research but are broadened to real-world team settings

Individuelle Expertise und Teamleistung: Ergebnisse aus drei empirischen Untersuchungen

Teamwork is one of the most important organizational changes over the past 20 years. Consequently, it becomes more and more important to know what makes teams effective. This dissertation compiles three studies that aimed at investigating the impact of the best team member on team performance beyond the average performance level of the team. The best team member is referred to as an expert. Study 1 tested how the score of the best team member, i.e., the expert, is related to team performance. It was proposed that planning behavior is a mediator. The individual and dyadic problem solving processes from 106 computer science students working on two complex software design tasks were observed. Results showed that the best team member had a positive impact on team performance and that local planning partially mediated the relationship. Study 2 examined in an experimental study with 200 students from non-technical majors how individual performance relates to team performance. In this study, two types of expertise (i.e., actual and perceived expertise) were distinguished. Results showed that actual expertise had a positive impact on team performance but perceived expertise had not. There was also no interaction effect of actual and perceived expertise with respect to team performance. Study 3 examined the impact of individual expertise on team performance in a longitudinal field study. More specifically, it was investigated how the performance of the best team member in different team functions (i.e., task functions and team functions) was related to team performance. Participants were 96 software professionals from 20 teams. As predicted, the best team member in task functions predicted team performance over time and the best team member in team functions accounted for additional variance. This research provides consistent evidence from the laboratory and field research for the outstanding role of the best team member on team performance.Teamarbeit gehört zu den wichtigsten organisationalen Veränderungen. Daher wird es zunehmend bedeutsam zu bestimmen, was Teams effektiv macht. Diese Dissertation beinhaltet drei Studien, die den Zusammenhang zwischen dem Einfluss des besten Teammitglieds auf Teamleistung untersuchten. Das beste Teammitglied wird als Experte bezeichnet. Studie 1 untersuchte, wie der Wert des besten Teammitglieds, d.h. des Experten, mit der Teamleistung zusammenhängt. Es wurde vermutet, dass Planen den Zusammenhang mediiert. Die individuellen und dyadischen Problemlöseprozesse von 106 Informatikstudierenden bei der Bearbeitung von Software-Aufgaben wurden beobachtet. Ergebnisse zeigten, dass das beste Teammitglied einen positiven Effekt auf die Teamleistung hatte und dass lokales Planen den Zusammenhang partiell mediierte. Studie 2 testete in einem Experiment mit 200 Studierenden, wie individuelle Leistung mit Teamleistung zusammenhängt. In dieser Studie wurden zwei Arten von Expertise differenziert (d.h. tatsächliche und wahrgenommene Expertise). Ergebnisse zeigten, dass tatsächliche Expertise im Gegensatz zu wahrgenommener Expertise einen positiven Effekt auf die Teamleistung hatte. Es gab keine Interaktion zwischen tatsächlicher und wahrgenommener Expertise. Studie 3 untersuchte den Zusammenhang zwischen individueller Expertise und Teamleistung in einer Längsschnitt-Felduntersuchung. Es wurde untersucht, wie die Leistung des besten Teammitglieds in verschiedenen Funktionen (d.h. aufgaben- und teambezogenen Funktionen) mit Teamleistung zusammenhängt. Teilnehmer waren 96 Softwareentwickler aus 20 Teams. Wie angenommen, sagte die Leistung des besten Teammitglieds in aufgabenbezogenen Funktionen die Teamleistung vorher. Außerdem konnten die besten Teammitglieder in teambezogenen Funktionen zusätzlich Varianz aufklären. Die Ergebnisse dieser Dissertation zeigen konsistente Befunde aus Labor- und Feldforschung für die herausragende Rolle des besten Teammitglieds in Teams

Facilitating Employee Recovery From Work: The Role of Leader‑Member‑Exchange

Building on Affective Events Theory (AET), this study examined within-person relationships between employee perceptions of day-level leader-member exchange (LMX) and day-level positive affect as well as between positive affect and recovery from work in the evening (i.e., relaxation, mastery, control, and psychological detachment from work). In addition, LMX variability was examined as a moderator of these within-person relationships. Employees (N = 160) completed surveys at the end of the workday and in the evening across five consecutive workdays. Results indicate direct relationships between perceptions of LMX and employee positive affect at work. In addition, positive affect was positively associated with two of the four recovery experiences (mastery and relaxation). Furthermore, LMX variability across the workweek moderated these positive indirect effects such that the indirect associations between the perceptions of LMX and employees’ recovery experiences during the evening via positive affect was only positive when LMX variability was low. The indirect effects, however, were nonsignificant when LMX variability was moderate or high. The present study expands LMX research by adopting a dynamic within-person perspective and by connecting the literature on workplace leadership with the literature on recovery from work, indicating that perceptions of LMX can potentially impact employees’ nonwork time

Daily Negative Work Events and Employees' Physiological and Psychological Reactions

Scholars have accumulated an abundant amount of knowledge on the association between work stressors and employees' health and well-being. However, notions of the complex interplay of physiological and psychological components of stress reactions are still in their infancy. Building on the Allostatic Load (AL) model, the present study considers short-term within-person effects of negative work events (NWEs) on indicators of both physiological (i.e., salivary cortisol) and psychological distress responses (i.e., negative affect and emotional exhaustion). Multilevel findings from an experience sampling study with 83 healthcare professionals suggest that reported NWEs predict employees' psychological but not endocrine stress responses. Results contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of employees' daily response patterns to occupational stressors