Leader, “know yourself”: bringing back self-awareness, trust and feedback with a theory O perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngaio Crook ◽  
Ozan Nadir Alakavuklar ◽  
Ralph Bathurst
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Theory U ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Experience Of Change

PurposeThis paper explores how leaders identify their roles and selves when they lead change in a dynamic organizational context.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative approach, ten ICT leaders participated in semi-structured interviews depicting their experiences of change. A thematic method of interpretative analysis was used to develop findings, supported by Theory U as a conceptual tool for leadership self-awareness.FindingsLeaders struggle with organizational constraints and boundaries, specifically the complexities that form and limit their leadership underpinned by unrealistic expectations due to the construction of romanticized heroic leadership. While these restrictions lead to feelings of detachment of leaders from their organizations, leadership development exists in the acts of letting go of old behaviors, and welcoming emergence and experimentation by trusting more.Research limitations/implicationsThis study may be limited by its small sample and the use of one framework to make sense of the leaders' experience of change. It confirms that change can challenge organizing norms and how leadership is identified.Practical implicationsDespite the feeling of detachment from their organizations, developing greater self-awareness, being open to new ideas and trusting more can bring about better organizational outcomes, which is represented with Theory O as a contribution both for theory and practice.Originality/valueThis study illustrates (1) leaders' inner work or personal experience of change, and (2) how improvement of self-awareness can contribute to the involvement of leaders to the change process. Based on self-awareness, trust and feedback relationship, this study suggests a new practical and conceptual tool called Theory O by advancing Theory U.

scholarly journals Smooth power: identifying high-level leadership skills promoting organizational adaptability

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Ohlsson ◽  
Aida Alvinius ◽  
Gerry Larsson
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Hierarchical Organization ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
High Level ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this research is to gain deeper understanding of the leadership skills that are important to enhance adaptability in a hierarchical organization together with the antecedent factors that influence the potential development of these sets of skills. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative research design applying grounded theory to investigate the specific skills of military senior officers and their interactions. Semi structured interviews were conducted and analyzed. Military organizations are hierarchical which may act against informal networking. Adaptability is however essential especially in emergency situations. Findings The organizational smooth power consisted of structural smoothness, emotional smoothness and relational smoothness. Four distinct superior categories emerged from the data: the professional background of the leader, professional name-branding, contextual appraisal and organizational smooth power. Research limitations/implications The authors advise that while it can be hypothesized that other organizational context may show similar behaviors, this would have to be tested by further research. Further research would be required to explore the generalizability of these finding to other parts of the world and to contexts other than the military. The authors do not claim to have captured all the relevant factors and the model developed by this research should be regarded as preliminary. Practical implications This research has practical implications for the recruitment and retention of personnel for senior military posts. It also has implications for leadership development initiatives and increasing both awareness of and skills in smooth power. Originality/value Previous research had not identified the specific skills needed to achieve the organizational adaptability necessary to meet the changing demands of the environment. While previous research has indicated that building networks and relationships are important it has not specified the skill set necessary for leaders to do so effectively. Thus, this research has originality and value and it also opens ways forward in future research.

Implications of a shadowing/mentoring programme for aspiring principals

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Service ◽  
Gulay Erin Dalgic ◽  
Kate Thornton
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Principal's Role ◽  
Post Graduate ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Aspiring Principals ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of a shadowing/mentoring component of a post-graduate programme designed to prepare deputy and assistant principals for the principalship. Design/methodology/approach – The research design is a qualitative evaluation of the shadowing/mentoring component of a principal preparation programme. The experiences of 13 individual aspiring principals who had taken part in the programme were explored using semi-structured interviews. Findings – The shadowing/mentoring component of this programme allowed the aspiring principals to gain an understanding of the complexity of a principal’s role by shadowing and being mentored by experienced principals in a range of New Zealand schools. In addition to providing them with a network of effective principals, the experience led the aspiring principals to reflect on their leadership development. Research limitations/implications – The study drew on a small sample of 27 students enroled in the programme, 13 of whom were included in the data collection process. Originality/value – This study presents the views of aspiring principals who valued the opportunity to relate theory to practice as part of a post-graduate programme.

Developing a supportive learning environment in a newly formed organisation

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 442-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Lancaster ◽  
Lee Di Milia
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rich Data ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
Supportive Learning Environment

Purpose – The aim of this study was to examine the factors that employees perceived were important in creating a supportive learning environment in a recently merged organisation. The study provides rich qualitative data from the employees’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach – This case study used a qualitative phenomenological constructivist approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed with the aid of NVivo. The study was conducted in a large government-owned organisation in Australia and the sample consisted of 24 recent graduates of leadership development programs. Findings – The results suggested that together with the organisation’s leadership, there are several distinguishing characteristics of a learning environment. These include learning with colleagues, openness to new ideas and change, building relationships, open communication, sharing the learning, coaching and reflection. Providing support for managers to gain confidence and self-awareness was important to their ability to apply their learning. The results also suggest that learning with colleagues from different regional and functional areas helps to reform subcultures and contributes to an overarching learning culture and hence to creating a supportive learning environment. Some hindrances were also discovered. Originality/value – This study gives voice to employee perceptions of the important factors required to create a supportive learning environment. The authors used a qualitative methodology in a field dominated by quantitative studies to provide rich data that extends the extant literature.

Mentoring pathways to enhancing the personal and professional development of pre-service teachers

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Grima-Farrell
Keyword(s):  
School Engagement ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Immersion Experience ◽  
Assessment Techniques

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the critical features and outcomes of an Australian collaborative university- and school-based immersion project for mentoring final year pre-service primary teachers in the area of special education as they embed theory and practice in inclusive classrooms for a full year, to respond to diverse student needs. Design/methodology/approach – Using a three-year qualitative study design, data were gathered through pre surveys and post surveys, two one-to-one semi-structured interviews, and reflexive journal entries. Analysis using triangulation of data sources and inter-rater reliability was employed to reach consensus on the key themes. Findings – Findings suggest that mentors proved critical to reducing pre-service teacher anxieties and to enhancing their personal and professional knowledge, confidence and skills as they differentiated instruction and assessment techniques to cater for students with a diverse range of abilities. Research limitations/implications – This research suggests that maintaining the balance of theory and practice through genuine extended school engagement experiences provided opportunities for collaborative connections on multiple levels across the school. This mentoring pathway enhanced and reinforced pre-service teachers’ professional capacity, confidence and employability potential. Limitations such as small sample size and lack of secondary school representation must be noted. Originality/value – This work identified the importance of the unique features of a mentoring programme within a university-school partnership, including the benefits of a full-year immersion experience, financial reward, responsibility, empowerment and enhanced employability status of final year pre-service teachers as they transition to classroom teachers. This paper provides useful insights for researchers, practitioners and teacher education policy developers.

Authentic leadership development: scrutiny of an apparent paradox

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
António Calheiros
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
True Self ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Positive Behaviors ◽  
Individual Self ◽  
Authentic Leadership Development

Leadership has long been a topic of interest for both academics (Hiller, DeChurch, Murase, & Doty, 2011; Sanders & Davey, 2011) and practitioners (Bennis, 2007; George, 2003). Academics have tried to understand the concept and identify its consequences and determinants. Practitioners have focused their efforts in its training and development hoping to reap its promised benefits. Over the last decade, authentic leadership has emerged as the fashionable leadership theory. More than just promising impacts on performance and subordinates’ work satisfaction, authentic leadership addresses management’s long term demand for and ethic and moral commitment (Ghoshal, 2005; Rosenthal et al., 2007). Authentic leadership is “a process that draws from both positive psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational context, which results in both greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors on the part of leaders and associates, fostering positive self-development” (Luthans and Avolio, 2003). The components of authentic leadership’s self-regulated authentic positive behaviours are balanced (non-prejudice) processing, relational orientation and internalized moral perspetive. One key point of authentic leadership is the authenticity of leaders, which can be defined as “knowing, accepting, and remaining true to one’s self” (Avolio et al., 2004). Recent research (Ford & Harding, 2011) have argued that this demand for one’s true self privileges a collective (organizational) self over an individual self and thereby hampers subjectivity to both leaders and followers, and could lead to destructive dynamics within organizations. This paper discusses the seeming paradox of developing authenticity in leaders, (namely addressing the issues raised by Ford & Harding) and clarifies the aim of authentic leadership development. It also assesses the suitability of traditional leadership development methodologies in meeting the challenges posed by a process-based approach to leadership with a focus on individual and social identification.

scholarly journals Unpacking the package

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 346-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Evans ◽  
Basil Phillip Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Organisational Change ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Informal Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Energy Company ◽  
Management Controls ◽  
Control Package

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which both formal and informal control, operating as a package, are implicated in responding to organisational change arising from the introduction of the Australian Federal Government’s Clean Energy Act (2011). Design/methodology/approach – This investigation is based on a review of archival data, and semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 staff at different hierarchical levels within an Australian renewable energy company. Findings – Although formal management control systems and informal control both played important roles in the organisation’s reorientation to organisational change, it was the latter form of control that predominated over the former. The influence of the prevailing organisational culture, however, was pivotal in orchestrating both formal and informal control efforts within this organisation. Originality/value – This study contributes to management control theory and practice in two ways: first, it provides much needed empirical evidence about the ways in which management controls act as a package; second, it offers insights into the relative importance of the components of a management control package in the context of a particular organisational change. In addition, it responds to Laughlin’s (1991) call for empirical “flesh” to be added to the skeletal framework he advocates to make this conceptualisation of organisational change, “more meaningful”.

“There is still a perception that homelessness is a housing problem”: devolution, homelessness and health in the UK

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Whiteford ◽  
Glenn Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Issue Salience ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Comparative Policy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory account of the links between devolution, homelessness and health in the UK. Specifically, it focusses on the policy context and governance structures that shape the systems of healthcare for homeless people in London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Design/methodology/approach Empirically the paper draws on semi-structured interviews with a small sample of policy and practice actors from the devolved territories. Qualitative interviews were supplemented by a comparative policy analysis of the homelessness and health agenda within the devolved regions. Theoretically, it takes inspiration from Chaney’s concept of the “issue salience of homelessness” and explores the comparative character of healthcare as pertains to homeless people across the devolved territories. Findings The paper provides clear evidence of areas of divergence and convergence in policy and practice between the devolved regions. These features are shown to be strongly mediated by the interplay of two factors: first, the scope and scale of national and local homelessness prevention strategies; and second, intra-national variation in public health responses to homelessness. Originality/value The paper offers considerable insight from a comparative policy perspective into the nature of healthcare provision for homeless people in the devolved regions.

Individuals' waste separation practice in a relationship with social bonds: a case study of Hanoi, Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Kim Nhung Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Social Bonds ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Waste Separation

PurposeThe paper aims to ascertain whether residents in Nguyen Du ward still sort their waste at source following the end of the 3R project that ended in 2009. Additionally, this paper aims to explore the relationship between waste separation practices and social bonds.Design/methodology/approachThe Travis Hirschi theory of social control was applied, together with the mixed method research design which included a structured questionnaire survey. Twelve semi-structured interviews were also conducted with residents and the data processed by SPSS software, using Chi-Square test, Independent-Samples t-test and Pearson's correlation analysis.FindingsA proportion of respondents has continued practicing waste separation since the 3R project ended. The study also indicated that the greater the involvement in family and neighborhood activities the more the participants were likely to practice waste separation.Research limitations/implicationsThe small sample size limits the extent to which the most influential factors can be determined and therefore the degree to which the findings can be generalized.Practical implicationsThe study includes implications for rerunning the waste separation programs for households as together with community campaigns to improve individuals' attachment and commitment and thus their participation in pro-environmental behaviors.Originality/valueTo the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to take a sociological approach to investigate factors affecting household waste separation, which has attracted little attention in previous studies. Useful information is also provided to local authorities for a policy-making process to implement effective domestic waste policies.

Hedonic experiences at heritage attractions: the visitor’s perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina Bender ◽  
Manuela Guerreiro ◽  
Bernardete Dias Sequeira ◽  
Júlio Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Exploratory Approach ◽  
Hedonic Experience ◽  
Using Data

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the hedonic experience and its formation at heritage attractions. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative and exploratory approach was applied, using data from 21 semi-structured interviews and three in-situ focus groups. Findings Findings highlight that senses, imagery and emotions are stimulated by the physical landscape and by triggers of memorable experiences. Research limitations/implications To further explore this topic, a broader range of heritage attractions and perspectives from the diverse stakeholders involved in the management and consumption of these sites is needed. Originality/value Given the scarcity of research dedicated to the hedonic experience at heritage sites, this study provides a contribution by exploring the visitor’s perspective and points out relevant insights. As the hedonic feelings of pleasure, comfort and related affective responses impact the quality of memorable experiences, relevant implications for theory and practice are discussed.

scholarly journals Trade-based money laundering (TBML) empowers criminals to run free post-Brexit

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariola Jolanta Marzouk
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Money Laundering ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Subject Matter Experts ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

Purpose This paper aims to provide unique empirical findings exploring the impact of the UK’s post-Brexit Economic Strategy to boost trade with developing countries on the UK banking sector’s ability to manage trade-based money laundering risks. Design/methodology/approach Exploratory research design that used structured literature review, followed by semi-structured interviews with key subject matter experts employed by large UK banks. Findings Both banks and law enforcement struggle to prioritise trade-based money laundering (TBML) intelligence discovery due to deficient skills, resources, technology and lack of strong regulatory stimulus. The regulated sector calls for the UK anti-money laundering (AML) reform that would better incentivise TBML deterrence, yet the Government underestimates the money laundering risks while trading with high-risk jurisdictions post-Brexit. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on a small sample of six semi-structured interviews with difficult to access population of key subject matter experts. Despite the small sample, participants provided well-articulated and informed insights. Practical implications The UK’s post-Brexit Economic Strategy to boost trade with developing countries downplays the TBML risks it carries. The findings should alert UK banks, law enforcement and the Government who will collectively bear the responsibility to effectively manage TBML while enabling smooth trading. Originality/value The research provides unique perceptions of UK banks’ senior subject matter experts on managing TBML threats from opportunistic criminals.

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