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The development of a leadership identity has been argued to be an important determinant for what leaders do. For leaders in highly specialized work environments, the development of a leadership identity has been regarded both in absolute terms and in relation to their professional identity. This study investigates the extent to which leadership identity in absolute and relative terms explains various types of leadership behaviors. Based on panel survey data from clinical directors in Danish hospital departments, the findings show that the absolute leadership identity predicts transformational, transactional, and professional development leadership, whereas no correlations are found between relative leadership identity and leadership behavior. The study supports the expectation that leadership identity is, in its own right, an important precondition for leadership behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does organizational structure shape the role of leadership? Research emphasizes the negative implications of broad spans of control, but theory and empirical research about the span of control and leadership are sparse. We develop theoretical arguments about the span of control and transformational, transactional, and distributed leadership and argue that employees in units with medium‐sized spans of control observe more leadership and have higher job satisfaction. Furthermore, that span of control can affect leadership behaviors differently. The arguments are tested on multilevel survey data from 393 nursing managers and 1699 nurses in Danish hospitals. We find that employees experience more leadership behavior and higher job satisfaction under medium spans of control compared to narrow and broad spans of control. Consequently, span of control should still be considered an important aspect of organizational design when active leadership behavior and high employee job satisfaction are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the consequences of broader spans of control for well-being outcomes among frontline managers., Method: Healthcare managers were surveyed in collaboration with the Central Denmark Region. The response rate was 74.5%. Using regression analysis, we investigate how span of control is associated with outcomes related to well-being understood as perceived stress, burnout, job satisfaction, satisfaction with the work environment, intention to quit their current job and work-life balance., Findings: Span of control may be an important factor in establishing well-being among frontline managers in the Danish hospital sector on several parameters. Span of control is associated the strongest with work-life balance and intention to quit, least but significantly with perceived stress and not significantly with burnout., Practical Implications: We recommend that healthcare organisations consider whether it could be more optimal to reduce the span of control for some managers. Furthermore, we recommend that future studies pay attention to span of control and provide stronger causal evidence about its impact on healthcare workers., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)