Search

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the influence of the interplay between servant leadership behaviors and Machiavellianism on leader effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on trait activation theory and motivation to lead theory, the authors hypothesize that the effect of servant leadership behaviors on perceived leadership effectiveness is manifested differently in teams with high-Machiavellian vs. low-Machiavellian leaders. In teams with low-Machiavellian leaders, servant leadership behaviors are expected to be associated with a cooperative way of handling team conflicts, which enhances employees' leader effectiveness ratings. In contrast, in teams with high-Machiavellian leaders, this mediation role vanishes due to the incongruency between Machiavellian traits and the cooperative context. The authors conducted a two-wave survey-based study and tested the hypotheses with a matched supervisor-employee sample from 310 employees and their leaders in 91 teams. Findings – The results showed that servant leadership behaviors positively impact leadership effectiveness and that this effect takes place through cooperative team conflict management (TCM) without controlling for leaders' Machiavellian trait. Further analysis shows this mediation mechanism is only strong and significant in teams led by low-Machiavellian leaders, but not high-Machiavellian leaders. Originality/value – To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study that examines the interplay of servant leadership behaviors and Machiavellianism on perceived leader effectiveness. 研究目的 – 本文旨在探討僕人式領導行為與馬基雅維利主義之間的相互作用會如何影響領導效能。 研究設計/方法/理念 – 我們根據特質激活理論和領導動機理論、建立了一個假設，這個假設就是： 僕人式領導行為對感知的領導效能所產生並顯示出來的影響、是會視乎團隊是高/強馬基雅維利主義，還是低/弱馬基雅維利主義而有所分別的。若團隊的領導者是低/弱馬基雅維利主義的話，僕人式領導行為大概會與使用合作的方式去處理團隊衝突有相互之關聯，這會提高僱員對領導效能的評分。與此相反，若團隊的領導者是高/強馬基雅維利主義的話，這調節作用和角色將會因馬基雅維利主義的特質與合作的環境之間存在著不協調而消失。我們進行了一個兩波的、以及基於調查的研究，在這研究中，我們利用管理者和員工相應的樣本來測試各個假設;這些樣本包括91個團隊內的310名員工及其領導者。 研究結果 – 研究結果顯示、僕人式領導行為對領導效能會產生積極的影響，而這影響是透過以合作方式管理團隊衝突而產生的，亦沒有對領導者的馬基雅維利主義特質加以管控。我們進一步的分析顯示、這調節機制只會在由低/弱馬基雅維利主義的領導者領導的團隊內顯得強烈和顯著，但若領導者是高/強馬基雅維利主義的話，情況就不一樣了。 研究的原創性 – 盡我們所知，本研究為首個研究、去探討僕人式領導行為與馬基雅維利主義之間的相互作用會如何影響感知的領導效能。

Abstract Background Medical specialists experience high levels of stress. This has an impact on their well-being, but also on quality of their leadership. In the current mixed method study, the feasibility and effectiveness of a course Mindful Leadership on burnout, well-being and leadership skills of medical specialists were evaluated. Methods This is a non-randomized controlled pre-post evaluation using self-report questionnaires administered at 3 months before (control period), start and end of the training (intervention period). Burn-out symptoms, well-being and leadership skills were assessed with self-report questionnaires. Semi-structured interviews were used to qualitatively evaluate barriers and facilitators for completion of the course. Results From September 2014 to June 2016, 52 medical specialists participated in the study. Of these, 48 (92%) completed the course. Compared to the control period, the intervention period resulted in greater reductions of depersonalization (mean difference = − 1.2, p = 0.06), worry (mean difference = − 4.3, p = 0.04) and negative work-home interference (mean difference = − 0.2, p = 0.03), and greater improvements of mindfulness (mean difference = 0.5, p = 0.04), life satisfaction (mean difference = 0.4, p = 0.01) and self-reported ethical leadership (mean difference = 0.1, p = 0.02). Effect sizes were generally small to medium (0.3 to 0.6) and large for life satisfaction (0.8). Appreciation of course elements was a major facilitator and the difficulty of finding time a major barrier for participating. Conclusions A ‘Mindful Leadership’ course was feasible and not only effective in reducing burnout symptoms and improving well-being, but also appeared to have potential for improving leadership skills. Mindful leadership courses could be a valuable part of ongoing professional development programs for medical specialists.

The aim of this study was to broaden the current understanding of leader integrity by applying a social-cognitive process model to leaders’ moral decision-making. Leaders (n = 223) were classified into different integrity styles (informational, normative, or diffuse-avoidant) based on their personal descriptions of how they approach moral questions and make moral decisions at work. We then investigated how followers (n = 963) perceived these leaders’ integrity (moral behavior, behavioral integrity, and consistency) and their leader-member exchange (LMX) quality by using a hierarchical leader-follower sample. Followers evaluated normative leaders to show the highest amount of consistency compared to the other integrity styles, although perceptions of leader consistency did not associate with LMX quality. Instead, follower-rated leader moral behavior had the strongest relationship with LMX quality both within and between leader-follower groups. Based on our results, morality is a more important integrity component to follower relationships than consistency. However, the leader’s moral motives behind their decisions might not translate directly and similarly to his or her followers. This means that leaders should pay attention to how transparent, fair, and equal their decisions and justifications behind them appear to others. We also provide a qualitative rating scheme for recognizing differences in personal integrity styles.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop and validate a Japanese version of the Servant Leadership Scale and to clarify the relationship between servant leadership (SL) and well-being among Japanese workers.MethodsAfter the Japanese version of the SLS (SLS-J) and of its short form (SLS-J-short) were developed in conformity with the guidelines (Wild et al., 2005), a web-based survey was administered to 516 Japanese employees (20 or older and have a supervisor). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to evaluate a construct validation of the SLS-J and the SLS-J-short. Convergent validity was estimated with theoretically related constructs (e.g., transformational leadership, supervisory support, and interpersonal justice) and potential consequences of SL (e.g., affective commitment, work engagement, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), psychological distress, and work performance). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) using the test-retest method was conducted with 104 of the initial respondents to assess internal consistency reliability. Additionally, the effects of SL on employees’ work engagement and the mediating role of employees’ affective commitment were estimated.ResultsCFA confirmed that an eight-factor model (SLS-J) and a five-factor model (SLS-J-short) had the most satisfactory fits for the two scales with Japanese workers. Tests of convergent validity and reliability showed sufficiency for each of the dimensions of SLS-J and SLS-J-short. Additionally, it was revealed that SL has an impact on employees’ work engagement through a mediation of affective commitment at a cross-sectional level, and the indirect association between SL and work engagement via affective commitment remained afterward.ConclusionSLS-J and SLS-J-short were confirmed to have good reliability and validity for Japanese workers. Also, this study found that SL has an important role in enhancing the engagement of workers.

Objectives Medical leaders are facing leadership challenges that ask for a leadership style that takes care of both themselves and their coworkers. Mindfulness may support this leadership style. We explored how a ‘Mindful leadership for medical specialists’ course affected medical specialists’ leadership.Design We conducted a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews. The grounded theory method was used to analyse the data.Setting A university medical centre in the Netherlands.Participants Seventeen medical specialists (six male) with an average age of 51 years (ranging from 40 to 66 years).Interventions The mindful leadership course consisted of 10-weekly 5-hour sessions that focused on cultivating mindfulness and compassion. In addition, sessions included didactic and interactional teaching about leadership theories.Results Four categories emerged from the data: (A) Self - Attitude: psychological attitude towards self, (B) Self - Behaviour: behaviour towards self, (C) Other - Attitude: psychological attitude towards others, and (D) Other - Behaviour: behaviour towards others. Themes were defined within these categories: awareness of self, open mind, insight and appreciation of self (A), emotional and cognitive self-regulation, letting go of unhelpful behaviour and developing helpful behaviour (B), differences in attitude to others such as awareness of (impact on) others, keeping an open mind about others, allowing difficult emotions associated with others, appreciating of others (C), and communicating more effectively, providing direction, empowering and caring for others (D).Conclusions The results help us understand the core elements of mindful leadership, both with respect to one’s psychological attitude and behaviour towards oneself and others. More research on mindful leadership and the effects on self and others is needed. Mindful leadership courses could be a valuable part of clinical training and might contribute to more sustainable healthcare organisations.

The present study addresses the relationship between human resources management (HRM) practices and employee turnover by taking into account the influence of socioeconomic environment. Data was collected at company level with an international sample of 830 companies from 12 countries (Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Brazil, Switzerland, China, France, Italy, Poland, Germany, South Africa, and Spain). A division into four bundles of human resources (HR) practices is introduced: remunerative, communication, developmental, and well-being practices. The influence of the socioeconomic environment was factored in by including the institutional setting in terms of the level of coordination as a country-level variable. The results showed that collective turnover is related to both a country’s institutional determinants and to company HR practices. Remunerative HR practices may have a negative influence in terms of enhancing turnover, particularly within countries high in coordination. HR well-being practices are the most beneficial practices in terms of reducing employee turnover. Our study adds to our knowledge on the relation between HR practices and turnover from an international perspective. It complements the empirical knowledge on the effectiveness of HRM practices in a cross-national setting and supports the notion that the institutional context should be given more attention when studying HR effectiveness.