Implicit leadership and followership theories “in the wild”: taking stock of information-processing approaches to leadership and followership in organizational settings
TL;DR: For over 30. years information-processing approaches to leadership and more specifically Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs) research has contributed a significant body of knowledge on leadership processes in applied settings.
Abstract: For over 30. years information-processing approaches to leadership and more specifically Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs) research has contributed a significant body of knowledge on leadership processes in applied settings. A new line of research on Implicit Followership Theories (IFTs) has re-ignited interest in information-processing and socio-cognitive approaches to leadership and followership. In this review, we focus on organizational research on ILTs and IFTs and highlight their practical utility for the exercise of leadership and followership in applied settings. We clarify common misperceptions regarding the implicit nature of ILTs and IFTs, review both direct and indirect measures, synthesize current and ongoing research on ILTs and IFTs in organizational settings, address issues related to different levels of analysis in the context of leadership and follower schemas and, finally, propose future avenues for organizational research.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: The Human Side of Enterprise as mentioned in this paper is one of the most widely used management literature and has been widely used in business schools, industrial relations schools, psychology departments, and professional development seminars for over four decades.
Abstract: \"What are your assumptions (implicit as well as explicit) about the most effective way to manage people?\" So began Douglas McGregor in this 1960 management classic. It was a seemingly simple question he asked, yet it led to a fundamental revolution in management. Today, with the rise of the global economy, the information revolution, and the growth of knowledge-driven work, McGregor's simple but provocative question continues to resonate-perhaps more powerfully than ever before. Heralded as one of the most important pieces of management literature ever written, a touchstone for scholars and a handbook for practitioners, The Human Side of Enterprise continues to receive the highest accolades nearly half a century after its initial publication. Influencing such major management gurus such as Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis, McGregor's revolutionary Theory Y-which contends that individuals are self-motivated and self-directed-and Theory X-in which employees must be commanded and controlled-has been widely taught in business schools, industrial relations schools, psychology departments, and professional development seminars for over four decades. In this special annotated edition of the worldwide management classic, Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Senior Research Scientist in MIT's Sloan School of Management and Engineering Systems Division, shows us how today's leaders have successfully incorporated McGregor's methods into modern management styles and practices. The added quotes and commentary bring the content right into today's debates and business models. Now more than ever, the timeless wisdom of Douglas McGregor can light the path towards a management style that nurtures leadership capability, creates effective teams, ensures internal alignment, achieves high performance, and cultivates an authentic, value-driven workplace--lessons we all need to learn as we make our way in this brave new world of the 21st century.
3,373 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review of followership literature is provided, and from this review, the authors introduce followership theory into leadership research and identify two theoretical frameworks for followership, one from a role-based approach (reversing the lens) and another from a constructionist approach (the leadership process).
Abstract: While theory and research on leaders and leadership abound, followers and followership theory have been given short shrift. It is accepted wisdom that there is no leadership without followers, yet followers are very often left out of the leadership research equation. Fortunately this problem is being addressed in recent research, with more attention being paid to the role of followership in the leadership process. The purpose of this article is to provide a systematic review of the followership literature, and from this review, introduce a broad theory of followership into leadership research. Based on our review, we identify two theoretical frameworks for the study of followership, one from a role-based approach (“reversing the lens”) and one from a constructionist approach (“the leadership process”). These frameworks are used to outline directions for future research. We conclude with a discussion of conceptual and methodological issues in the study of followership theory.
818 citations
TL;DR: A growing body of leadership literature focuses on leader and follower identity dynamics, levels, processes of development and outcomes Despite the importance of the phenomena, there has been surprisingly little effort to systematically review the widely dispersed literature.
Abstract: A growing body of leadership literature focuses on leader and follower identity dynamics, levels, processes of development and outcomes Despite the importance of the phenomena, there has been surprisingly little effort to systematically review the widely dispersed literature on leader and follower identity In this review we map existing studies on a multilevel framework that integrates levels-of-the self (individual, relational and collective) with the levels-of-analysis (intrapersonal, interpersonal and group) on which leader or follower identity work takes place We also synthesize work from multiple research paradigms, such as social psychology experimental studies, narrative accounts of leaders' identity work and field studies on antecedents, outcomes, mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions Finally, we outline implications for leadership development and call attention to key themes we see ripe for future research
204 citations
Cites background from "Implicit leadership and followershi..."
...They may, thus, disproportionally differentiate among followers and develop highly differentiated LMX relationships (e.g., Erdogan & Bauer, 2010; Epitropaki et al., 2016)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors synthesize a dispersed body of knowledge and synthesize it under a global construct of creative leadership, which refers to leading others toward the attainment of a creative outcome.
Abstract: Various streams of organizational research have examined the relationship between creativity and leadership, albeit using slightly different names such as “creative leadership”, “leading for creativity and innovation”, and “managing creatives”. In this article, we review this dispersed body of knowledge and synthesize it under a global construct of creative leadership, which refers to leading others toward the attainment of a creative outcome. Under this unifying construct, we classify three more narrow conceptualizations that we observe in the literature: facilitating employee creativity; directing the materialization of a leader's creative vision; and integrating heterogeneous creative contributions. After examining the contextual characteristics associated with the three conceptualizations, we suggest that they represent three distinct collaborative contexts of creative leadership. We discuss the theoretical implications of a multi-context framework of creative leadership, especially in terms of resolving three persisting problems in the extant literature: lack of definitional clarity, shortage of nuanced theories, and low contextual sensitivity.
171 citations
Cites background from "Implicit leadership and followershi..."
...Socio-cognitive approaches to leadership (e.g. Epitropaki & Martin, 2004, 2005; Epitropaki et al., 2013; Lord & Maher, 1991; Shondrick, Dinh, & Lord, 2010; Shondrick & Lord, 2010) and creativity (e....
[...]
...As a matter of fact, in Lord, Foti and De Vader’s (1984) list, the trait “creative” was included in the non-leader attributes list which clearly implies that creativity is not perceived as a core characteristic of leadership (Epitropaki et al., 2013)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, a two-stage field study of 150 leader-follower dyads employing a cross-level polynomial regression analysis supported their expectation-match hypotheses and showed that followers' perceptions of laissez-faire leadership as a mediator subsequently lead to lower leader effectiveness evaluation.
149 citations
Cites background or result from "Implicit leadership and followershi..."
..., 2010), the number of organizational studies on ILTs is still limited (Epitropaki et al., 2013)....
[...]
...Because of that, previous research on ILTs has mainly focused on the application to detect measurement bias (Epitropaki et al., 2013)....
[...]
...They may see the encouragement of self-determination and participation in decision making as leaders’ facilitation of self-management skill development (Pearce & Sims, 2002), as that is what they have expected their leaders to do in order to fulfill their duties (Epitropaki et al., 2013)....
[...]
...Fourth, while effects of ILTs have been predominately tested in laboratory settings, the current study follows a recent call to show their impact in organizational contexts (Epitropaki et al., 2013)....
[...]
...Despite previous research pointing to followers’ ILTs as a crucial explanation of these findings (cf. Engle & Lord, 1997; Epitropaki & Martin, 2005; Shondrick et al., 2010), the number of organizational studies on ILTs is still limited (Epitropaki et al., 2013)....
[...]
References
More filters
15,981 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: The Nature of Sensemaking Seven properties of sensemaking Sensemaking in Organizations Occasions for Sensemaking The Substance of Sense-making Belief-Driven Processes of Sense Making Action-driven Processes on Sensemaking.
Abstract: The Nature of Sensemaking Seven Properties of Sensemaking Sensemaking in Organizations Occasions for Sensemaking The Substance of Sensemaking Belief-Driven Processes of Sensemaking Action-Driven Processes of Sensemaking The Future of Sensemaking
13,400 citations
TL;DR: An implicit association test (IAT) measures differential association of 2 target concepts with an attribute when instructions oblige highly associated categories to share a response key, and performance is faster than when less associated categories share a key.
Abstract: An implicit association test (IAT) measures differential association of 2 target concepts with an attribute. The 2 concepts appear in a 2-choice task (e.g., flower vs. insect names), and the attribute in a 2nd task (e.g., pleasant vs. unpleasant words for an evaluation attribute). When instructions oblige highly associated categories (e.g., flower + pleasant) to share a response key, performance is faster than when less associated categories (e.g., insect + pleasant) share a key. This performance difference implicitly measures differential association of the 2 concepts with the attribute. In 3 experiments, the IAT was sensitive to (a) near-universal evaluative differences (e.g., flower vs. insect), (b) expected individual differences in evaluative associations (Japanese + pleasant vs. Korean + pleasant for Japanese vs. Korean subjects), and (c) consciously disavowed evaluative differences (Black + pleasant vs. White + pleasant for self-described unprejudiced White subjects).
9,731 citations
"Implicit leadership and followershi..." refers background in this paper
...The timed performance difference between the two stages represents the direction and strength of the association to followers (Greenwald et al., 1998)....
[...]
TL;DR: The present paper shows how the extended theory can account for results of several production experiments by Loftus, Juola and Atkinson's multiple-category experiment, Conrad's sentence-verification experiments, and several categorization experiments on the effect of semantic relatedness and typicality by Holyoak and Glass, Rips, Shoben, and Smith, and Rosch.
Abstract: This paper presents a spreading-acti vation theory of human semantic processing, which can be applied to a wide range of recent experimental results The theory is based on Quillian's theory of semantic memory search and semantic preparation, or priming In conjunction with this, several of the miscondeptions concerning Qullian's theory are discussed A number of additional assumptions are proposed for his theory in order to apply it to recent experiments The present paper shows how the extended theory can account for results of several production experiments by Loftus, Juola and Atkinson's multiple-category experiment, Conrad's sentence-verification experiments, and several categorization experiments on the effect of semantic relatedness and typicality by Holyoak and Glass, Rips, Shoben, and Smith, and Rosch The paper also provides a critique of the Smith, Shoben, and Rips model for categorization judgments Some years ago, Quillian1 (1962, 1967) proposed a spreading-acti vation theory of human semantic processing that he tried to implement in computer simulations of memory search (Quillian, 1966) and comprehension (Quillian, 1969) The theory viewed memory search as activation spreading from two or more concept nodes in a semantic network until an intersection was found The effects of preparation (or priming) in semantic memory were also explained in terms of spreading activation from the node of the primed concept Rather than a theory to explain data, it was a theory designed to show how to build human semantic structure and processing into a computer
7,586 citations
TL;DR: Theoretical development in this area also has undergone many refinements, and the current theory is far different from the early Vertical Dyad Linkage (VDL) work as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Research into Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory has been gaining momentum in recent years, with a multitude of studies investigating many aspects of LMX in organizations. Theoretical development in this area also has undergone many refinements, and the current theory is far different from the early Vertical Dyad Linkage (VDL) work. This article uses a levels perspective to trace the development of LMX through four evolutionary stages of theorizing and investigation up to the present. The article also uses a domains perspective to develop a new taxonomy of approaches to leadership, and LMX is discussed within this taxonomy as a relationship-based approach to leadership. Common questions and issues concerning LMX are addressed, and directions for future research are provided.
5,812 citations