Business Commons^™

Cultures Of Servant Leadership And Their Impact, Robert Giambatista, Robert Mckeage, Jeremy Brees

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Servant Leadership has primarily been studied at the level of individual leaders and their impact, yet Greenleaf, who first formally proposed the idea in 1970, also considered the construct as an important institutional element. Further, because it is values-based, and culture is the organizational mechanism for developing and transmitting shared values, an organizational lens for studying servant leadership is also needed. The current study of three firms examines organizational differences in servant leadership. We found organizational differences in levels of servant leadership, suggesting a cultural explanation. We also found that individual (i.e., supervisor) and organizational (i.e., cultural) servant leadership have …

The Salience And Substance Of Spiritual Leadership, Joseph P. Hester

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

The binary construct “spiritual-leadership” is a challenge to explain and a conundrum to unravel. Its inscrutability lies within our intrinsic nature and is, as we know, malleable, succumbing to cultural as well as value relativity. The spiritual lies deeply within our mental environment swaying perception, memory, judgment, reasoning, and volition. Few doubt the importance of the spiritual, but its substance is often ill-defined yielding more to religious belief and emotion than rational validation. Its entwinement with monotheistic belief appears to limit its more widespread application. Practically, the question is how the spiritual functions to expand and clarify our knowledge of …

Helping Leaders Grow Up: Vertical Leadership Development In Practice, Hannah E. Jones, Julie A. Chesley, Terri Egan

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This research reinforces arguments for the use of adult vertical development theory to transform traditional leadership development practices to prepare leaders for the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Vertical leadership development strategies and practices were assessed in fifteen large organizations. Multiple factors impacted implementation of vertical development practices. The primary factor was the overall leadership development mindset (the organization’s learning strategy and its theory of individual change). Secondary factors include senior leader engagement, space for openness and vulnerability, capability and experience of practitioners, alignment in business processes, and expanded understanding of risk-taking. Our results illustrate that accelerating leadership …

Strengthening The Ecosystem Of Capacity-Building Service Providers: A Case For Why It Matters, Caroline Altman Smith, Carla Taylor

The Foundation Review

Nonprofits frequently find it challenging to find providers best suited to meet their capacity-building needs. This can be especially true when looking for providers to strengthen racial equity capacity. Many nonprofits lack the time, networks, or expertise to identify what’s available and vet various options for cost, relevance, and quality.

When the Kresge Foundation designed a program to build leadership capacity through a racial equity lens among its grantees, it wanted to strengthen the marketplace of offerings as well. Kresge’s Fostering Urban Equitable Leadership program sought to build leadership capacity and add value for grantees by offering a curated menu …

Servant As Leader: The Effects Of Servant-Leaders On Trust, Job Satisfaction, And Turnover Intentions In Intercollegiate Athletics, Rebecca M. Achen, Regan Dodd, Angela Lumpkin, Kris Plunkett

Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice

This study examined the possible influence of servant leadership in NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletics. Using a survey research design, 326 athletic department employees were asked to provide their perceptions of their athletic directors’ servant leadership characteristics and respond to questions on trust in leader, turnover intentions, and job satisfaction. Results from structural equation modeling suggested servant-leaders significantly and positively impacted perceptions of trust in leader and job satisfaction. Additionally, there was a significant effect of perceptions of servant leadership on turnover intentions as mediated by job satisfaction. Sport leaders taking a servant leadership approach in their organizations could help …

The Passion To Fly And To The Courage To Lead: The Saga Of Amelia Earhart – Leading Women Into Flight, Emilio F. Iodice

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Truly a 20th Century leader, Amelia Earhart’s success was not only in breaking aviation records, but overcoming barriers for women. She set an example of courage, achievement, and not being afraid of envy, criticism, ignorance and indifference. Author Iodice explores this iconic figure in depth as a profound example of determination, commitment, and courage at a time where all societal expectations pointed to defeat and resignation.

Meaning Management: A Framework For Leadership Ontology, Muhittin Oral

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Leadership is a multifaceted and complex subject of research and demands a sound ontological stance that guides studies for the development of more integrative leadership theories. In this paper, I propose the leadership ontology PVA (perception formation – value creation – achievement realization) and associate it with the two existing leadership ontologies: TRIPOD (leader – member – shared goals) and DAC (direction – alignment – commitment). The leadership ontology PVA, based on a new theory called “meaning management,” consists of three circularly supporting functions: cognitive function to form perception, creative function to generate value, and communicative function to …

Rebuilding Of The Temple And Renewal Of Hope: Leadership Lessons From Zerubbabel, Ezra, And Nehemiah, Hershey H. Friedman, Paul J. Herskovitz

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

The past three decades have been witness to a nascent but compelling body of literature on lessons in leadership for business derived from biblical narratives. The aim of this paper is to advance that effort. Specifically, this study considers the leadership of Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, who built the Second Temple on the ruins of the First. When he arrived in Judah from Babylonia, the walls of Jerusalem were breached and the entire country was filled with people hostile to constructing the Temple. One of the mysteries of the Bible is the disappearance of Zerubbabel from the biblical record. …

Better Together: Engaging Stakeholders In Learning And Leadership To Guide Foundation Resources Toward Adaptive Systems Change, Nadine Long, Kimber P. Richter, Jennifer Elise Avers, Rick Cagan

The Foundation Review

In 2014, the Kansas Health Foundation brought together a group of knowledgeable stakeholders from a multitude of specialties to focus on reducing tobacco use specifically among Kansans with mental illness. Over 15 months, the group and the foundation worked to learn deeply about the issue and inform action that could be taken on individual, organizational, and systemic levels.

The wealth of knowledge and experience brought by each participant to the discussion and learning about this complex issue, together from a range of perspectives, resulted in a more productive dialogue. The model proved very effective, as evidenced by the group’s success …

Leaders Of Today

Business Exchange

Four student leasers, Rebeca Mitrea, Kevin Felisme, Olena Cruz and Bevon Joseph are profiled about how they intend to use their business acumen to lead and empower others.

Incivility And Beyond At The Top Management Team Level, Joanne O. Martinez, Julia Eisenberg

Organization Management Journal

Although incivility has been gaining increasing attention in the literature as well as in the industry, academic studies have not examined the effects on top management team (TMT) members. TMT members are different from employees at other levels because they are officers of their organizations who are held to a much higher level of responsibility than those in lower echelons. They are crucial in setting the norms of an organization and have far-reaching influence. This article seeks to uncover the mechanisms that explain what happens when TMT members are targets of uncivil leadership behavior. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 …

The Empathetic Leader, Sarah Romney

Marriott Student Review

Research shows that “empathy” is an important quality in a leader and improves one’s ability to resolve group needs, obtain followers, perform prosocial behaviors, and get positive results. However, many business students do not recognize the value of empathy. Business schools can help improve this by teaching the importance of empathy and giving students the opportunity to develop it.

What Went Wrong? Lessons In Leadership From Solomon, The Bible’S Wisest And Worst Ruler, Hershey H. Friedman, Linda W. Friedman

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This paper attempts to demonstrate the many insights about successful and unsuccessful leadership that may be derived from the life of King Solomon, who, according to Scripture, was the wisest man who ever lived. Solomon may have been very wise but made some very serious blunders as a leader that led to the breakup of his empire after his son took over. This paper answers the obvious question as to which mistake/character flaw transformed Solomon from a great leader to an unsuccessful leader. This paper will also examine the Book of Proverbs attributed to Solomon and see what leadership lessons …