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We introduce a new commentary series at the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies titled Fireside Chats. The series purpose is to broaden the current dialogue on leadership research to include pieces that share wisdom and inspire ideation, nurturing and assessment of the field. Senior scholars are invited to share their views and opinions which we will feature as Fireside Chat commentaries. Their intended value is to offer a widely-accessible conversation space to reflect, create, and share wisdom.

The leadership literature advances that vision communication is essential for leadership because it enhances follower motivation by providing a deeper meaning for one's job. However, empirical research on the relationship between visions and outcomes are mixed suggesting that moderators may be at play—and indeed moderators have been investigated in terms of follower characteristics and environmental circumstances. Yet, one crucial aspect of vision communication is overlooked: the notion that vision communication is embedded in the broader range of leadership behaviors and thus that vision communication effectiveness is dependent on how it relates to other leadership activities. In this research, we focus on leader task goal setting as a moderator of vision communication since task goal setting is strongly related to vision communication and is frequently used by leaders. Our hypotheses are based on Behavioral Integrity (BI) theory, which suggests that leaders are perceived as more effective when their words are mirrored in their deeds. In this vein, we propose that vision communication leads to better outcomes when the values communicated in a vision are aligned with values later communicated in task goals because alignment causes higher levels of BI of the leader. Results of a scenario study and a field study support these predictions and we discuss implications for research and practice, such as leadership development programs.

In this paper, we study the effectiveness of incentives on delivery service time slot choices. In particular, we focus on the use of green labels that specify time slots as environmentally friendly and that intrinsically motivate customers to choose a specific delivery time slot in lieu of price incentives based on extrinsic motivation. We argue that this is important since green labels’ intrinsic nature affects costumer choice in fundamentally different ways than price incentives. We conduct two experiments and two simulation studies to study the effects of using green labels. Our experimental findings suggest that: (i) green labels are an effective tool to steer shoppers toward a certain delivery option, (ii) green labels are more effective for people who are more eco-conscious, (iii) green labels remain effective in the presence of price incentives, while price incentives offer little added value beyond that of just green labels, and (iv) the effectiveness of green labels vs. price discounts remains high when time slots are less appealing (i.e., longer). Our simulation findings suggest that green slots, compared to price incentives or no incentives, offer providers a way to effectively steer consumer time slot choices to yield shorter routes, fewer delivery vehicles used, and more per-customer revenue. We thus conclude that steering individuals to select delivery time slots through intrinsic motivation via green labels may be a promising, no-cost direction for (online) retailers and an important topic for further research.

Contradictory recommendations persist on how leaders best communicate goals to followers. Whereas scholars of visionary leadership recommend emphasizing the desirability of preferred end?states, scholars of goal setting argue that the perceived feasibility of a goal determines motivation. This paper proposes and tests a synthesis based on construal level theory. Under relatively high (i.e., abstract) levels of construal, such as when leader–follower distance is relatively large, leader appeals that emphasize desirability (i.e., desirable appeals) are more likely to be effective than appeals that emphasize feasibility (i.e., feasible appeals). Under relatively low (i.e., concrete) levels of construal, such as when leader–follower distance is relatively small, feasible appeals are more likely to be effective. Two experimental studies in two different countries provide support for our predictions.