Effectiveness of Leadership and factors affecting it

Effectiveness of leadership and factors affecting it

Author: Priyanka Bhaidkar

• The relationship between a leader’s self-deprecating humor and perceived effectiveness

Gkorezis and Bellou (2016) conducted research to examine the impact of a leader’s self-deprecating humor on follower’s perceptions of leader effectiveness. In doing so, the authors also encompassed trust in leaders as a mediator. Data were collected from three different samples. The authors examined the hypotheses using hierarchical regression, bootstrapping analysis and Sobel test. Data were collected from 160 MBA students from two Greek business schools (N=160). Prior information was provided regarding the purpose and nature of research along with the promise of maintaining anonymity of responses to questionnaires. All measures used a seven-point Likert scale. Other two methods were employed too for hypothesis testing. Potential participants were also informed that some items referred to themselves whereas the supervisor-related items concerned their own immediate supervisor. The findings indicate that leaders who make fun of their own mistakes and faults are likely to be considered more effective by their followers, probably because when they gently laugh at themselves while communicating with their subordinates, they appear more humble, ethical and self-confident. Results give consistent evidence that the use of self-deprecating humor by the leader positively affects his/her perceived effectiveness and that this relationship is partially mediated by trust in the leader. A main limitation of the research is that it cannot infer causality. In addition, data was gathered from a single source.

• Do personal traits of the leader predict differences in leader and subordinate evaluations of leader effectiveness

Habtamu et al (2022), conducted a study with an aim to examine whether 3 aspects namely, the internal locus of control, self-esteem and leadership self-efficacy can predict differences in self–other rating on leader effectiveness. The study is a cross-sectional study within a commercial bank setting in Ethiopia. Each leader and subordinate have been formally asked to fill out and return a questionnaire in English. Authors proposed 3 hypotheses, first, the greater the internal locus of a leader the more their self-rating will be in agreement with others’ rating of them. Second, the greater the self-esteem of a leader the more discrepancy in self-rating and others’ rating. Third, the greater the self-efficacy of a leader the more their self-rating will be in sync with others’ rating. To test the hypotheses, multisource data were collected from 128 banking leaders (who responded about different aspects of leadership self-efficacy, internal locus of control, self-esteem and leadership effectiveness) and 344 subordinates (who rated their leaders’ effectiveness in performing leadership tasks). Multivariate regression was done, joint regression was applied to both, leaders’ self-ratings and subordinates’ ratings as a dependent variable on internal locus of control, self-esteem and leadership self-efficacy as predictor variables. The results showed that higher self-esteem of a leader will show more discrepancy between self-rating and those of others. 

• Understanding the change and development of trust and the implications for new leaders

Dirks et al (2022), conducted a study to understand how trust changes and develops for leaders in a new role and the implications of that change. Data were gathered at the United States Military Academy, which describes itself as “the world’s premier leader development institution” (United States Military Academy, 2010). Study participants were cadets who attended the Academy to simultaneously earn college degrees, first, cadets were assigned to units and thus, to leaders, by a computer algorithm which strived to maximize diversity. The data we used to test our hypotheses were collected at three time points, 1st during the first week of the academic program, 2nd and 3rd were conducted approximately 5 weeks apart throughout the semester. Squad members assessed trust in their direct supervisors, at all three data collections, using an 8-item scale adapted from the commonly used scale in McAllister (1995).Similarly other 11 scores were obtained by participants on the remaining 11 variables. The findings indicate that leader and unit performance is a function not only of absolute trust level, but is also affected by the direction and magnitude of change in trust across time periods, with the highest levels of effectiveness being associated with leaders who exhibited an increase in trust from the group over time. The data also suggest that the direction and rate at which trust grew was determined by initial expectations and transformational leadership behaviors

• Mindfulness and leader effectiveness

Lippincott and Matthew (2018), undertook the very first research that attempts to study interlinkages between mindfulness and effectiveness of leadership in depth analysis. The purpose was to present findings that help clarify the process of behavioral development that may be a contributing factor to a better understanding of why leaders attribute improved effectiveness to mindfulness. Participants with mid-to-executive levels of organizational leadership experience were also targeted as a means for collecting detailed data concerning how mindfulness had added value to their careers as leaders. participants were recruited through LinkedIn groups and personal networks. Modified behavioral-event interviews (BEIs) ranged from 55 to 80 minutes in length and focused on: description of professional role and background; description of mindfulness training and utilization; and exploration of workplace results attributed to mindfulness.The objective of the BEI is to identify hidden characteristics of the person being interviewed to gain an understanding of what drives his/her workplace performance. Special attention to behavioral details. Data were collected through 42 modified behavioral-event interviews with senior organizational leaders from ten countries i.e. USA, Brazil, India, Australia, UK, Italy, Canada, Poland, and Germany. In total, the 42 transcripts were reviewed nine times over a period of 12 months. Data analysis was performed using qualitative analysis techniques of content analysis and the emotional and social competency inventory (ESCI). It was concluded that mindfulness is perceived by practitioners as significantly influencing the development of behaviors, and changes to awareness, that they link to improved leadership effectiveness. Mindfulness is also perceived as enhancing cognitive function and emotional intelligence which are essential contributors for effective leadership. 

• Ideal number of leaders in each role to lead a sports team

Leo et al (2019), conducted a research to analyze the number of task, social and external athlete leaders within sports teams, and to examine the effectiveness of different leadership structures in male and female teams. The participants were 531 professional soccer players in the Spanish Soccer League. The sample included 317 male players and 214 female players in Spain. The questionnaires collected at the end of the season. First, we identified the leadership structure in each team (i.e., having zero, one, two or three leaders); second, we grouped the teams according to these leadership structures; and third, MANOVA was used to compare different leadership groups in terms of their effectiveness. The results demonstrated that the most common structure within the teams was to have one task leader, one social leader, and two external leaders. Additionally it showed that the shared leadership across and within leadership roles was seen as the most effective leadership structure for male and female teams

• Leader effectiveness in emerging markets

Jain et al (2013), conducted a study with a purpose of assessing interlinkage of emotional intelligence (EI) and leader effectiveness. The paper surveyed 352 managers in India in order to examine the relationship between EI and tolerance of ambiguity (TOA), respectively. 400 managers from 30 randomly selected private sector organizations in the New Delhi area of India were asked to complete the survey. This included banks, firms in the IT sector, and outsourcing organizations, 352 usable surveys were obtained (N-= 352). 80 percent of the respondents were in middle management and 20 percent were senior managers with at least bachelor’s degree and a 4 to 6 years of work experience. All the three variables were measured using three different tools. The paper found that both EI and TOA were significantly related to leader effectiveness. Individuals who have a high TOA are less likely to shy away from an uncertain or complex situation. Individuals high in EI, are more aware of their own emotions and the emotions of others while also being able to successfully interpret information, hence can have lasting effectiveness. Additionally, EI significantly and positively moderated the relationship between TOA and leader effectiveness. The major limitation of the study was it was composed of a single survey of a relatively small number of managers in a small region of India.

• Followers’ response to negative emotional expression of male and female leaders

Lewis and Kristi (2000), state that a leader’s emotional display is proposed to affect his or her audience. This study observes a male or female leader expressing negative emotion was proposed to influence the observer’s affective state and assessment of the leader’s effectiveness. The experience of followers-emotional and otherwise-as they observe emotional expression in leaders is proposed to have a direct effect on their perception of a leader’s effectiveness. Followers associate certain emotions expressed as representing desirable-or undesirable-traits. Participants were undergraduate psychology students ranging in age from 17 to 53, with an average age of 20.7 years (standard deviation of 4.5 years). The 368 participants were all volunteers drawn from a pool of psychology students attending a university in the southwestern United States. Of the total number of participants, 104 (28%) were men and 264 (72%) were women.data collection took place in a laboratory setting. The laboratory study utilized videotapes to standardize the six role-play scenarios viewed. Each video portrayed one of two actors, a woman or a man, enacting the same script with one of three different emotional tones (neutral, sad, or angry). Professional actors were used to portray the leaders, and the participants perceived them, on average, to be of moderate physical attractiveness. The actors in the study altered their voice, demeanor, and used gestures to demonstrate the three emotional tones. For neutrality, the actors maintained a non-emotional manner. Several manipulation checks were conducted to ensure that the emotions expressed by the actors were perceived as intended. Results show that leaders’ negative emotional display had a significant and negative main effect on participant assessment of leader effectiveness compared to a more neutral emotional display. Further it indicates that male leaders received lower effectiveness ratings when expressing sadness and female leaders received lower ratings when expressing either sadness or anger.

• When the boss is blue: Examining the effects of supervisors’ negative emotions on subordinates

Xi et al. (2021), conducted a research to reveal the interpersonal, cross-domain effects of supervisor negative emotions on subordinate cognitive work engagement and family undermining through subordinate perceived leader effectiveness and self-efficacy to manage work and life. Employees’ work outcomes are highly influenced by their relationships in the workplace. Ample research has since shown that employees’ work-related experiences shape their interactions with their family members at home and vice versa. Research also examines subordinates’ family undermining as the other non-work-related outcome. This paper is based on ten Brummelhuis and Bakker’s (2012) WH-R model. Their model describes negative work–family spillover as a process whereby demands in one domain deplete personal resources.

Subordinates’ uncertainty about their supervisors’ leadership and management ability subsequently promotes their family undermining tendencies, as they bring the negative perceptions home after work. Perceived leader effectiveness refers to subordinates’ perceptions of their supervisors’ effectiveness in meeting their job-related needs, representing them to higher authorities within the organization, and meeting organizational requirements. This research proposes that supervisors’ negative emotions will diminish subordinates’ perceptions of their supervisors’ effectiveness due to the perceived loss of interpersonal work resources.Data was collected from a large Singaporean government agency through an online survey. Two sets of online questionnaires were used: a quick pulse survey for their supervisors and a comprehensive survey for subordinates, with separate administration of both. Human Resources (HR) manager, who was informed prior, subsequently briefed all survey participants. (N=460 supervisors, N= 460 subordinates). Results revealed that supervisor negative emotions led to higher levels of subordinate cognitive work engagement and family undermining. Additionally, supervisor’s negative emotions had unintended consequences on subordinates’ work and family outcomes – they enhanced subordinates’ cognitive work engagement (positive work outcome) but also increased subordinates’ family undermining (negative family outcome). Future studies could benefit from a diary study with a within-subject design since emotions are known to fluctuate in a day.

• Leadership effectiveness, leadership style and employee readiness

Jui-Chen and Colin (2005), undertook a research with a purpose to establish relationship between to test the Hersey and Blanchard Situation Leadership Theory (SLT) of leadership effectiveness and the impact of the degree of match between leadership style and employee readiness level on a variety of measures of leadership outcomes. The research was exploratory in nature and the measures used were employee job satisfaction, job performance, job stress, and turnover intention. SLT states that an effective leader functions in leadership based on the ability and willingness of subordinates for a given task. A total of 350 survey instruments were mailed to randomly selected managers throughout the USA in a variety of manufacturing and service companies in order to minimize any bias introduced by the sample selection procedures. To create the sample, a list of companies was obtained from www.thomasregister.com. Companies were then selected on the basis of every fifth company to a maximum of ten companies for a particular product or service. 126 completed questionnaires were returned (N=126).The survey instruments used were: LEAD-Other instrument (Hersey and Blanchard, 1988), Readiness Scale- Staff Member Rating Scale (Hersey et al, 1996), Job Satisfaction Scale (see Price, 1997), Job Stress Scale (Montgomery et al, 1996), Self-appraisal job performance questionnaire (Yousef, 2000), Intent to Stay or Leave (see Price, 1997). The results did not support SLT predictions that an appropriate match between leadership style and subordinate readiness results in higher levels of subordinate job satisfaction and performance and lower levels of job stress and intention to leave. However, the results partially supported SLT in that, the higher the leader’s leadership score, the more effective the leader’s influence. The major limitation of the study is that it applies to Taiwan culture and its application to other “Chinese” and non-Chinese cultures is questionable.

• Impact of emotional intelligence and employee turnover on leadership effectiveness 

 

Iqbal et al (2022), conducted a research with a primary objective to study and investigate the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (Self-Awareness, Self-Driven Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, and Interpersonal Skills) and Employee Turnover in the Banking Sector of Pakistan. Employee Turnover is considered as a worker decides to leave a company, this  includes resignation, layoff, suspension, discharge. One of the hypotheses of the study was to understand whether ‘Leadership effectiveness’ and ‘Employee Turnover’ has a relationship. It is a quantitative study and a cross-sectional review with a deductive approach in which the theories of leadership effectiveness, emotional intelligence, and employee turnover are tested. The tool was comprised of a questionnaire designed as a 5-point Likert scale with a parameter to measure 1 (unequivocally deviate) to 5 (empathically concur) is divided into two parts are first part is related to Emotional Intelligence factors that are self-awareness, self-driven motivation, and interpersonal skills, Employee turnover and Leadership Effectiveness, and the second part containing information about the respondents such as age, gender, education, designation, and experience. 200 respondents were targeted out of which a sample of 166 responded to the survey from December 2021 to February 2022, which were distributed originally using Google forms (N=166). The target population is the individuals at leadership positions who are constantly dealing with many employees in the banking industry. The locale of the study was Karachi, Pakistan. They responded to questionnaires using a five-point Likert scale. The results of the study showed the p-value less than 0.05, the t-value around 7.5 and the variance 60%, indicating emotional intelligence factors and employee turnover have an affirmative and constructive relationship with leadership effectiveness.

Conclusion

The above articles, irrespective of their research design, study the factors affecting effectiveness of leadership. These can be named as self depreciating humor of leaders, personal traits like internal locus of control, self-esteem and leadership self-efficacy, trust, mindfulness, number of leaders in role, emotional intelligence etc. It provides an overarching understanding at global level that inculcating mindfulness and emotional intelligence are non-negotiables for leaders to be effective, the undue expression of emotions, specifically negative emotions can affect the followers’ motivation, work outcomes and can affect their perception of leaders’ effectiveness. The articles also draw in insights viz., organizations should consider placing individuals in job positions based upon their Tolerance of Ambiguity (TOA). Observing an emotion in a leader may help followers interpret ambiguous situations. It was also found that the higher the leader’s leadership score, the higher the employee willingness to perform a task, the higher the employee job satisfaction, the lower the employee’s job stress and the lower the employee’s turnover intention. 

 

References

 

1. Dirks, K. T., Sweeney, P. J., Dimotakis, N., & Woodruff, T. (2022), Understanding the change and development of trust and the implications for new leaders: JBE. Journal of Business Ethics, Springer Nature B.V., 180(2), 711-730. 
2. Gkorezis and Bellou (2016), ‘The relationship between a leader’s self-deprecating humor and perceived effectiveness: Trust in leader as a mediator’, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bradford, 37(7), 882-898. 
3. Habtamu, E. A., Schalk, R., & Marloes, v. E. (2022), Do personal traits of the leader predict differences in leader and subordinate evaluations of leader effectiveness: A study in the banking industry in ethiopia. The Journal of Management Development, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bradford, 41(5), 317-334. 
4. Iqbal, S., Khan, K., & Gul, R. (2022), Impact of emotional intelligence and employee turnover on leadership effectiveness in the banking sector, Global Management Journal for Academic & Corporate Studies, Baharia University Karachi, 12(2), 20-37. 
5. Jain, A. K., Srivastava, S., & Sullivan, S. E. (2013), Leader effectiveness in emerging markets: An empirical study of the managers in india. Journal of Technology Management in China, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 8(2), 105-119.
6. Jui-Chen, C., & Silverthorne, C. (2005), Leadership effectiveness, leadership style and employee readiness, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 26(3), 280-288.
7. Leo, F. M., García-Calvo, T., González-Ponce, I., Pulido, J. J., & Fransen, K. (2019), How many leaders does it take to lead a sports team? the relationship between the number of leaders and the effectiveness of professional sports teams, Public Library of Science, San Francisco, 14(6)
8. Lewis, K. M. (2000), When leaders display emotion: How followers respond to negative emotional expression of male and female leaders, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Suppl.Special Issue, Wiley Periodicals Inc. 21, 221-234. 
9. Lippincott, M.(2018), Deconstructing the relationship between mindfulness and leader effectiveness. [Mindfulness and leader effectiveness] Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bradford, 39(5), 650-664. 
10. Xi, W. C., Kalliath, T., & Cheng, D. (2021), When the boss is blue: Examining the effects of supervisors’ negative emotions on subordinates’ cognitive work engagement and family undermining, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, United Kingdom, Farnborough [Supervisors’ negative emotions and subordinates’] Personnel Review, 50(2), 575-595.