Leadership Studies Commons^™

Editorial Note, Heather S. Mcmillan

Journal of the North American Management Society

No abstract provided.

“Try, Start, Do It”: Phil Zimbardo And The Heroes’ Square Foundation, Györgyi Orosz

Heroism Science

This article pays tribute to the life and legacy of Philip Zimbardo, emphasizing his transformative influence in Hungary through education, social engagement, and the science of heroism. The journey began with a 2012 invitation that brought Zimbardo to Budapest, ultimately leading to the foundation of the Heroes’ Square (Hősök Tere) initiative. His message—that heroism is not reserved for the exceptional but is accessible and teachable—became the core of nationwide programs focused on mindset, intervention behavior, and social responsibility. Zimbardo’s influence went beyond academia; he inspired personal and institutional change. The foundation’s programs, such as teacher trainings, the Hero School, and …

Biblical Servant Leadership And Physical Therapists' Clinical Decision Making For Breast Cancer Patients After Breast Cancer Surgery: A Correlational Study, Cleve Carter Iii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to determine whether a relationship exists between physical therapists’ (PTs’) perceptions of their manager’s or director’s application of BSL and the clinical decision-making of the PT when treating patients of varying socioeconomic status (SES) and race after breast cancer surgery (e.g., mastectomy, lumpectomy) in the United States (U.S.). This study utilized case-based vignettes for a patient population seeking skilled physical therapy services after breast cancer surgery within the U.S. healthcare system context. The sample population consisted of PTs from across the U.S. who actively evaluate and treat patients following breast cancer (BC) …

Church Survivability: A Qualitative Study On Planters’ Leadership Development Role In Southern Baptist Texas Convention Planting, Alton R. Mckinley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Since the pandemic, there has been an accelerated decline in church membership, and within groups of young adults, there are alarming trends that raise concern for the direction of the church. Wang (2022) wrote that the decline is about 10 percentage points between 2019 and 2021 for those under age 35 and those 65+, but only four percent for the middle-aged group. This increased decline in attendance can be addressed by developing leaders who are well-equipped to handle many issues and problems simultaneously. Many secular leadership development concepts will help leaders become more efficient and practical. Winston (2018), in his …

Empowering Residents Through Relational Ministry: Implementing The Missional Resident Program At Creekside Community Village, Megan E. Yingst-Coats

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Individuals who are homeless have a reason beyond the stereotypes that might be assigned to them. Homelessness can be caused by mental illness, disability, loss of income, addiction, and many other reasons, but implementing a long-term program where homeless individuals can move in and be rehabilitated will decrease the number of homeless individuals that are in our country (Swenson, Miller, Herzberg & Ray, 2011). The purpose of the missional program at Creekside Community Village is to provide individualized care for residents and create a permanent solution for those experiencing chronic homelessness. The missional program will equip missional residents to walk …

Exploring Coaching Leadership Behaviours In Strength And Conditioning Coaching: Preferences Of Ncaa Division I And Ii Collegiate Student-Athletes Based On Task Variability, Severiano Tiberi, Jeremy Moody, Steve Cooper, George Jennings, Joseph I. Esformes

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

This study aimed to explore collegiate student-athletesˈ preferences of coaching leadership behaviours in strength and conditioning coaching and evaluate differences between the student-athletesˈ preferences of behaviours based on task variability. In total 145 National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes (closed sports athletes = 51, open sports athletes = 94) completed an electronic questionnaire involving the athletesˈ preference version of the Revised Leadership Scale for Strength and Conditioning. Results revealed that the most favoured behaviour was ˈtraining and instructionˈ, whilst the least favoured was ˈautocraticˈ. Similar results were observed for closed and open sports groups, though closed sports athletes preferred ˈtraining and …

False Starts & Finish Lines: Youth Sports, Coaching, & The Crisis Of The American Dream, John S. Lammert Jr

Master's Theses

False Starts & Finish Lines: Youth Sports, Coaching, & the Crisis of the American Dream examines how the American youth sports system reflects, reproduces, and at times resists the evolving contradictions of the American Dream. Drawing on a comparative analysis of institutional documents from public high schools, travel clubs, and recreational leagues, this thesis interrogates how youth sports have shifted from inclusive spaces of play and character-building to stratified marketplaces governed by the Athletic Industrial Complex (AIC). It argues that rising costs, performance pressures, and privatized structures have transformed access to sport—and, by extension, to the Dream itself—into a function …

Book Review: Building A God, Carl Lee Tolbert

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

No abstract provided.

A Culture Of Accountability Through Ethical Leadership Drives Citizenship Behavior In Ghana’S Traditional System Of Leadership, Eric Yeboah-Asiamah

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This study seeks to investigate the influence of accountability on the community citizenship behavior of followers in Ghana's traditional system of leadership with the mediating role of ethical leadership behavior. A cross-sectional survey design was used to obtain quantitative data from 319 Ghanaians through questionnaires. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.1.0.3 was utilized to test the study’s hypotheses. The results showed that accountability (ACC) was a significant predictor of ethical leadership behavior but had no direct effect on community citizenship behavior (CCB). Additionally, the relationship between ACC and CCB was partially mediated by ethical leadership behavior. …

If These Walls Could Talk: An Institutional Perspective On Values-Based Leadership, Arild Wæraas, Harald Askeland, Gry Espedal

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Scholars usually conceptualize values-based leadership (VBL) as a subset of transformational leadership. By contrast, we see VBL as a form of leadership in its own right, having theoretical roots in institutional theory. Building on recent Scandinavian contributions to VBL, we develop our argument by delineating VBL from transformational leadership and proposing a conceptualization of VBL that is consistent with Selznick’s theory of institutional leadership. Specifically, we see VBL as an approach that involves focused attention throughout the organization to desired practices and critical reflection on values, emphasizing the leader’s role as a facilitator of values work and protector of existing …

Factor Analysis Of The Cultivated Leadership Questionnaire (Clq) And Measurement Against The Short Dark Triad (Sd3), Christopher Ewing, Michael Epstein

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This study aimed to evaluate the Cultivated Leadership Questionnaire (CLQ), a self-report tool designed to assess leadership based on key constructs such as self-regulatory behaviors, emotional intelligence, prosocial actions, positive motivational strategies, and personal influence. An exploratory factor analysis identified two main components that together accounted for 65.44% of the variance, suggesting a general leadership factor and a secondary factor capturing more specific leadership attributes. The study also examined the relationship between Dark Triad traits—psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism—and the leadership behaviors measured by the CLQ. The results revealed negative correlations between both Machiavellianism and psychopathy with leadership behaviors, while narcissism …

A Dynamic Leadership Approach In Different Situations And Contexts, Francois Kammoe

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This paper is one of the first to provide empirical evidence supporting the conceptualization of a dynamic leadership approach in which employee maturity and organizational dynamism help leaders make the right choice of leadership styles to improve employee job satisfaction. As business environments change and employee maturity differs in this dynamic business era, and as there is a chaos characterized by numerous leadership styles in the leadership literature, adopting a dynamic leadership approach has become important to identify the most effective leadership styles suitable for employees. A quantitative study using conditional process analysis was conducted to examine a dynamic leadership …

Crafting Ethical Problem-Solving Cultures: A Leader’S Role In Complex Adaptive Systems, Elizabeth A. Luckman

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

In today’s complex and interconnected world, leaders play a critical role in fostering ethical problem-solving cultures within organizations. To enable leaders to succeed in this evolving landscape, this paper advocates for a necessary paradigm shift: a transition in mental models about how organizations function. Historically, organizations have been viewed as mechanistic systems, but there is a substantial opportunity to improve our work by viewing organizations as complex adaptive systems. This shift alters fundamental assumptions about organizational operations and redefines leadership as the creation of conditions for effective and ethical problem-solving. In this paper, I examine the changing mental models that …

Perspective - Leadership And Management, Eric Silfen

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Why do we care?

Leadership is a word on everyone’s tongue. A hackneyed word. A much bantered about word. A word that engenders “good feeling”. A word that denotes reaching the pinnacle. A word akin to soaring heights. An Icarus word. A word that implies others will follow. A Pied Piper word.

But what is our view of leadership from below? What inspires us to be led? What makes us strive for this pinnacle? And why do we care? And why do we ignore that the leader might not be one of us?

In this article, we explore the origin …

Institutional Agility And Its Role In The Excellence Of Security Institutions, Hassan Ali Al Ali

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

Institutions today need to change to keep pace with the dynamics that have struck the world, namely the events of Corona (COVID-19), to become more powerful to face the changing environment. The need for institutional agility has emerged due to intense competition, and a desire to mobilize the needs of beneficiaries and response to rapid changes. Institutional agility is one of the methods, also effective and successful modern management is another significant method. Institutional agility achieves institutional excellence if applied correctly and effectively. The study reached the most important results, the most important of which are: that national agility can …

The Interactive Effects Of Stereotype Activation And Minority Group Belonging On Identity Mobilization Tactics, Career Identity, And Leader Identity For Black Women In The Workplace, Corai E. Jackson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand when and how Black women can achieve positive identity outcomes in the workplace when they experience stereotype activation. Despite Black women's increasing presence in the workforce, they continue to face unique challenges at the intersection of race and gender, including negative stereotypes that undermine their credibility and limit career advancement opportunities. This research explored how Black women's sense of belongingness to their minority group influences their use of identity mobilization tactics when stereotypes are activated, and how these factors collectively influence their career and leader identities.

Using a 2 × 2 between-groups …

Voices Of Black Leadership: Town-Gown Relationships And The Black Community, Dave A. Louis, Kenzalia Bryant-Scott, Teranda J. Donatto

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study explores the perspectives of 27 Black community leaders from Black communities in the United States about town-gown relationships in their communities. Utilizing the responses of the participants, a basic thematic analysis was conducted, and participants’ findings discussed. Emergent themes included issues of mistrust, division, desire for community improvement, and the positive relationships with Black colleges and universities. The researchers offer suggestions to university administrators, community engagement coordinators, and institutions about their approach to create meaningful and collaborative partnerships with Black communities.

Innovate, Collaborate, Lead: The Global Library Leaders’ Toolkit, Shameem Nilofar Maideen

Research Collection Library

The Strategic Leadership Reality Our Challenge : How do you build strategic value while maintaining operational excellence with constrained resources?

Grounded Leadership: A Look Into California Community College Mid-Level Leaders, Vicki Hou

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory mixed-method study was to identify and describe what exemplary California Community College mid-level leaders do to maintain their physical, emotional, intellectual, social, vocational, and spiritual health based on the six dimensions of Rosen’s healthy leader model.Methodology: This study employed a purposive sampling method to select 15 mid-level leaders from two California community college districts. Data collection involved two instruments: the Stay Grounded Survey, administered to all 15 participants, and semi-structured interviews conducted with a subset of five participants. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including mean scores, frequency distributions, and standard deviations. Qualitative …

Leveraging Cultural Agility In K-12 Public Educational Organizations: A Phenomenological Study Of How Superintendents Coach Other Leaders, Curt Eichperger

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological analysis was to identify and describe how California K-12 public school superintendents use culturally agile task management competencies while coaching other leaders in their organization.Methodology: This phenomenological study identified and described the culturally agile task-management competencies that 12 California Central Coast Superintendents employ to navigate the complex and ever-evolving public educational landscape. Participants were purposively selected based on specific criteria. The researcher served as the primary instrument of data collection, conducting semi-structured interviews with participants. The data was analyzed and coded to identify themes and subsequent findings. Findings: This study identified eight key findings …

Fostering Innovation At Work: Leadership Strategies For Motivating Innovative Work Behavior Across Generations Within The Christian Higher Education Environment, Sarah Clark

Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) Capstone Abstracts

Project Type

Organizational Consulting Project, Organizational Design or Change, Seminar or Workshop

Project Overview

This capstone project involved the design, facilitation, and evaluation of a strategic leadership workshop developed for mid to senior-level enrollment leaders at Southeastern University. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Innovative Work Behavior (IWB), and Transformational Leadership, the workshop offered a diagnostic and developmental experience designed to motivate innovation across generational teams within a Christian higher education setting. The workshop was structured to transition from research-based theory to data-informed strategy, helping leaders translate organizational insights into actionable plans.

Project Themes

Core themes included intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, …

A Quantitative Study Of The Relationship Between The Decision-Making Style Of School Principals And Their Faculty And Staffs’ Perception Of Their Leadership Effectiveness, Joshua D. Viola Phd

Leadership Studies

Decision-making has been studied and researched for centuries, as have the leadership qualities associated with it. In today’s complicated world, decision-making of organizational leaders is more scrutinized than ever, and this investigation will examine what the decision-making process looks like for principals in public schools (Evans & Semrau, 2015). Organizational leadership and organizational demographics are also compared to decision-making style. This study collected decision-making data from public school principals in Maine who work at schools with 50% or less free and reduced lunch as well as leadership effectiveness data from faculty and staff in those schools. An ANOVA was run …

An Exhibition And Protest Of Executions In Iran, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

An exhibition and protest of executions in Iran was held in Washington, D.C. in June 2025. Portraits of 2000 men and women who were killed or executed in Iran since the 1980s were displayed on the National Mall in front of the Capitol. The Iranian Resistance estimates that 30,000 activists were massacred in one period in 1988. Executions of prisoners have continued steadily, making Iran the world’s leading executioner of men and women. In recent years, there has been a sharp escalation in the number of executions of prisoners. A United Nations Special Rapporteur reported that over 800 persons were …

Spiritual Practices In Survivor Care: A Qualitative Analysis Of Christian Faith-Based Shelters And Survivor Well-Being, Jeanne L. Allert

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Christian faith-based organizations constituted a significant proportion of shelter programs for survivors of sex trafficking in the United States, with an estimated 63% identifying as Christian-affiliated (Institute for Survivor Care, 2024). Despite their prevalence, such programs often elicited skepticism due to the rise of secularism (Pew Research, 2022) and concerns that spiritual programming might retraumatize survivors (Ahrens et al., 2010; Hodge, 2020). However, Ahrens et al. (2010) and Hodge (2020) also found that religious practices can be helpful. This qualitative study employed a trauma-informed, descriptive survey design to explore the experiences of 158 trafficking survivors, who had either resided in …

Living Heritage, Resilience And Ethically Informed Infrastructures In Malawi, Martha B. Lerski, Frank Puluputu Mwale

Publications and Research

Rooted in a rural community’s needs, this paper explores how historically, and ethically informed infrastructures can support community engagement towards identification, documentation, and dissemination of local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge relating to climate change. The paper examines climate adaptation and sustainability issues through the lenses of community organizing and Library & Information Science best practices. It draws on a growing body of literature identifying a role for expanded epistemological and subject discipline perspectives. While the impacts of climate on material culture are increasingly recognized, intangible, and biocultural heritage have not received as much attention. Living heritage traditions and knowledge systems …

An Inquiry Into The Program Planning Orientations Of Community Engagement Administrators In Community-Academic Partnerships, Mary F. Price, Jasmina Camo-Biogradlija, Patti F. Clayton, Lori E. Kniffin, Robert G. Bringle, Haden M. Botkin

Leadership Faculty Publications

Planning is a ubiquitous dimension of service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) partnership practice. How SLCE administrators conceptualize, inhabit, and negotiate their roles as planners remains empirically under-investigated, however, as does when and why planners experience shifts in perspective that affect partnership quality and outcomes. We introduce the concept of planning orientations and report on a study in which SLCE administrators reflected on their desired and practiced planning orientations as they planned and implemented a partnership reflection process. Key findings illustrate the utility of intentional reflection on planning orientations for examining and enhancing community-academic partnership practice, including the recognition that the …

Exploring Dimensions Of Crystallized Identities, Candice L. Ruh

Feminist Pedagogy

For college students, learning about the components of identity can generate deeper knowledge about how personal and social identities differ, and how identities influence the way individuals experience socio-cultural systems and structures. The Exploring Dimensions of Crystallized Identities activity uses principles of self-reflexivity and dialogue to explore theoretical frameworks for practical application. This experiential activity is a facilitated dialogue driven by student involvement and is best suited for students in mid- to upper-level undergraduate courses. It encourages students to reflect on their and others’ identities, and to consider the social impacts of diversity in their lives.

Fostering Peace Leadership Learning And Practice: A Pilot Study Analysis Of The Peace Leadership Development Curriculum, Whitney Mcintyre Miller, Miznah O. Alomair, Kelly Kennedy, Brittnie A. Ferguson

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

Presented in this paper is a mixed methods pilot study that analyzes the Peace Leadership Development Curriculum (PLDC). The PLDC was designed to teach integral peace leadership concepts embedded in the areas of Innerwork, Community, Knowledge and Environment to students and community peace leaders. Analyzed herein is the impact of the curriculum in terms of participants’ understanding of leadership topics, the frequency in which they utilize these practices, and their perceptions of their importance for peace leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Study methods include a pre- and post-survey with Likert-scale questions and open-ended response questions.

Findings

Findings from the study demonstrated that …

Police Officer Recruitment And Retention: How Can The Problem Be Solved, Paul R. Eagleston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This grounded theory study aimed to understand the issues with police officer recruitment and retention for police administrators nationwide. The theory guiding this study was the grounded theory approach by Glaser and Strauss (1967) as it relates to the reasons for the loss of interest in law enforcement, including an increase in officers resigning before retiring. Data collection will explore if the police administrator being interviewed has experienced increased difficulties in recruiting potential candidates to fill vacancies and an increase in police officers in their department resigning before retirement. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with law enforcement administrators. Recruitment …

فاعلية المهارات البيولوجية لدى النساء الاردنيات وعلاقتها بالإعداد والتطوير القيادي: مدخل القيادة النسوية, Maysoon Issa Alsaleem

Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education مجلة اتحاد الجامعات العربية للبحوث في التعليم العالي

هدف المقال إلى بيان مدى فاعلية المهارات البيولوجية لدى القيادات النسائية واختبار العلاقة بين تفعيل هذه المهارات وإعداد وتطوير القيادات النسائية في المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية، باستخدام مقياس CEPIC-HERO الذي استحدثته الباحثة. اعتمدت الدراسة على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، حيث أظهرت النتائج أن تفعيل المهارات البيولوجية لدى القيادات النسائية يتراوح بين المتوسط والمنخفض جدًا، حيث كانت مهارة المرونة هي الأعلى تفعيلًا بدرجة متوسطة، وأقلها مهارة توظيف الهرمونات بدرجة منخفضة جدًا. كما بينت النتائج وجود علاقة طردية متوسطة بين تفعيل المهارات البيولوجية وإعداد وتطوير القيادات النسائية، حيث يفسر تفعيل هذه المهارات 57% من التغيير الحاصل في إعداد وتطوير القيادات، والنسبة المتبقية (43%) تعود …