Education Commons^™

Leading Mindfully In Dynamic Times: Can A Mindfulness-Based Leadership Training And Coaching Program Increase Leadership Effectiveness?, Nina Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This research examined the influence of a Mindfulness-based Leadership Training and Coaching Program (MBP), in garnering three aspects of leadership effectiveness; extra employee effort, productive performance and followers’ satisfaction with leadership.

We hypothesized that mindfulness-based leadership training and coaching program can influence leaders’ frequency in adopting authentic, transformational and transactional leadership behaviors to enhance leadership effectiveness.

We tested these predictions separately on two control and intervention groups. Results suggested that the combined training and coaching mindfulness-based intervention program had predictive effects between the practice of mindful attunement of leaders’ behaviors and enhancement in leadership effectiveness, even in a short span …

Harmonies And Dissonances: The Relationship Between Values Taught And Values Experienced In Three Values-Oriented High Schools, Barbara Merson

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the relationship between values taught and values experienced in three values-oriented high schools, i.e., high schools whose educational philosophy and objectives include an emphasis on specific values. The research questions focused on description of values taught and experienced within the schools, the perception of leaders and teachers about this relationship, and the theories of action developed by school leaders and teachers to enhance the relationship. Primary data sources included interviews with leaders and teachers, observations of classrooms and public spaces, and document reviews in each school. Data were analyzed both within each school and across the …

Inclusive Leadership And Employee Engagement: The Moderating Effect Of Psychological Diversity Climate, Jose Luis Rodriguez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Leadership is a well-known complex phenomenon that focuses on important organizational, social and personal processes, where leadership is dependent on a process of social influence, which occurs between the leader and follower (Bolden, 2004). Therefore, leaders need to operate with a certain understanding of leadership and the environment in order to address the increasing pressures and demands that come with being a leader. However, leadership concepts too often focus on leader behaviors apart from their effects on followers; in contrast, Inclusive Leadership (IL) highlights the importance of leadership as a social construction process between the leader and follower. The present …

Iranian Leadership Ideals: A Culturally-Based Leadership Approach, Azadeh Davari

Dissertations

In light of many current financial and ethical crises, scholars have called for looking beyond our existing Western-based approaches for innovative leadership practices. Recent research about the success and unique management practices of Indian corporations (Cappelli et al., 2010) shows a unique style based on both people and profit and one that blends capitalist profit-based structures with caring for people and community. That research has been the basis for suggestions for the existence of a distinct Indo-European leadership (IEL) style (Nahavandi, 2012a; Nahavandi & Krishnan, 2017) with philosophical roots in Iran and India and provides impetus for looking beyond Western …

Transformational Leadership In Club Sports: An Instrument For Evaluation And Assessment, Nathan Shelby Hutchens

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Campus Recreation and its programs can be used as a way to combat the national trends of decreasing enrollment and retention (Weaver, Forte, & McFadden, 2017; Kampf & Teske, 2013). In fact, 62% of students indicate that Campus Recreation programs are a factor when choosing an institution and 67% indicate that recreation programs were a factor when deciding to stay at a particular institution (Forrester, 2014). As a program within Campus Recreation, Club Sports specifically is perceived to have the greatest health and wellbeing benefits out of all Campus Recreation programming (Lower, Turner, & Petersen, 2013). Due to the voluntary …

Ne Maquixtia: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Leaders’ Dispositions And Their Impact On The Organizational Cultures They Lead, Georgina Yvette Garcia

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Doctoral Research Projects

The aim of this field-based research study was to explore and examine the importance of leader dispositions and their impact on organizational culture and sustained success. It focused on answering the following research question: What leadership dispositions, whether in education or in business, transcend organizational boundaries and most likely lead to organizational cultures that sustainably impact results and support continuous improvement?

This study spotlights the urgent need for leaders in all organizational contexts to immerse themselves in a profound and meaningful manner with developing greater awareness of the dispositions related to their leadership and the cultures they directly impact and …

It's A Dangerous World In There: Leadership Methods And Actions Of School Administrators During Emergency Situations And Times Of Crisis, James J. Drake

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Over the past twenty years, shootings and other violent incidents, acts of terrorism such as the attacks of September 11, 2001, and natural disaster events such as hurricanes or floods have occurred with increasing frequency. Situations like these pose significant challenges for school administrators when a normally-peaceful educational environment is quickly transformed by significant acts of aggression from within, or by external threats that impact the educational domain with little or no advance warning.

Contingency-based, situational leadership has proven to be effective when used in both educational and non-educational settings during normal, non-emergency periods. The purpose of this study is …

Leadership Strategies To Retain Key Employees, Keith Reginald Stafford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of key employees protects a firm's investment in its human resources. Employee retention is an issue in the insurance sector, particularly among sales employees. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore leadership strategies used by insurance sales managers to retain key employees. Herzberg's dual factor theory and Adams's equity theory were used to explore insurance sales managers' insights into leadership strategies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 insurance sales managers in southern California to elicit the strategies they used to maintain their key salespeople. Data were analyzed using the modified Van Kaam method. Seven themes emerged from …

Understanding How Generation X And Millennial Entrepreneurs Manage Organizational Conflict, Sidjae T. Price

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

As the United States prepares for a generational shift in leaders, there is a lack of literature adequately examining how Generation X and Millennial entrepreneurs manage organizational conflict about leadership and change management. The scope of this problem should concern individuals who are stakeholders in any organization. In preparation for the coming shift in generational leaders, the subject study explored the management of organizational conflict regarding leadership and change management for Generation X and Millennial entrepreneurs. Supported by a theoretical foundation built on theory of generations and realistic group conflict theory, this qualitative study analyzed the interviews and narratives of …

Experiences Of Correctional Principals Of Teacher Attrition In Juvenile Correctional Facilities, Sherese Moton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of teachers in correctional organizations is an ongoing challenge. A correctional education setting is a nontraditional unstable academic setting where teacher turnover is one third within the first 5 years. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of leaders in correctional organizations who are challenged with finding ways to reduce teacher turnover in a juvenile correctional facility. The conceptual framework that guided this study was Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Using purposive sampling, 6 former juvenile correctional principals participated in the study. Data were collected through systematic open-ended semistructured interviews with 4 occurring via …

Regret Theory And Decision-Making In Retention Program Funding, Eugenia Jo Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior leaders of higher education institutions make management-related funding decisions that meet the needs of the institution without incurring financial loss. By classifying groups of students into strategic business units, these leaders can make targeted fund management decisions. Researchers have demonstrated that higher education institutions have successfully implemented student retention programs for students in the freshman unit, but in this early adoption stage, have been unable to establish a pattern in the sophomore unit decision-making process. This study was designed to determine the relationship between the management decisions to allocate funding for retention programs for students in the sophomore year …

Employee Engagement From The Viewpoint Of Employees In Academia, Stephanie Giles-Merrick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research does not address how staff in the United States perceive employee engagement in the university system. Leadership training and communication for managers are essential processes that help staff become highly engaged in universities. The purpose of phenomenological study was to explore the views of employees in a selected university within the state of Georgia in an attempt to address positive employee engagement in the academic environment. The engagement theory and social exchange theory were used as the conceptual frameworks to explore how employees engaged in their department working with their managers. To address this question, a purposeful sample of …

Instructional Behavior And Its Impact On Student Engagement, Debra Joan Crumpton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this quantitative study was to expand understanding of leadership behaviors and their influence on follower engagement. Researchers have shown that engagement is a predictor of retention and organizational performance. Leadership theory and the conceptual framework of worker engagement were the study's theoretical anchors. Despite a proliferation of leadership studies, engagement antecedents are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to narrow the gap in the literature by examining the extent to which there may be a relationship between college instructors' behaviors and student engagement. Although not traditionally regarded as frontline leaders, extant leadership literature affirmed college …