Leadership Studies Commons^™

A Practical Theology Of Change: Community-Centered Leadership For Congregational Transformation In Evolving Contexts, Kevin W. Vanhook Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Communities worldwide have been dramatically and rapidly changing, with more of the world’s population expected to live in urban settings by 2030. Christian churches that failed to adapt to their communities’ mergent needs experienced stagnation and decline, while those that survived and thrived rethought their strategies for engaging with their respective communities. Research indicated that churches focusing on achieving and sustaining congregational health and vitality had the potential to defy the prevailing trends of church decline. However, there was a lack of research regarding best practices for doing so. Therefore, this study identified the practices used by ministers of Christian …

Navigating The New Normal: A Grounded Theory Study Of Lessons Learned About Leadership Practices Since The Pandemic In Multimodal Workplace Settings And The Future Of Work, Jessica Arriaza

Theses and Dissertations

The global pandemic has profoundly transformed leadership and the work landscape across multimodal workplace environments (onsite, virtual, and hybrid). As organizations navigated unprecedented disruption, leaders had to respond with agility, empathy, and innovation. This qualitative, grounded theory study explored the transformative impact of post-pandemic changes on leadership practices within the evolving workplace landscape and future work trends. The overarching research question guiding this study was to what extent, if at all, leadership practices have evolved since the global pandemic across onsite, virtual, and hybrid workplace settings, and what skills, strategies, and practices will future leaders need to navigate the future …

Critical Success Factors For U.S. Fintech Startups In The Post-Covid-19 Era: Applying The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Framework, Wen Hua

Theses and Dissertations

The extradentary surge of financial technology (fintech) enterprises has fundamentally transformed contemporary financial markets, yet extant scholarly literature exhibits a notable absence of a unified and theoretically grounded framework for explicating fintech startups’ success (Hamza et al., 2025). This dissertation addresses this theoretical lacuna by synthesizing an integrative entrepreneurial ecosystem framework to illustrate the critical success factors (CSFs) that catalyze fintech venture performance (Conley, 2014). Drawing upon established theoretical foundations, this research employs a multi-method research design, and develops a comprehensive framework for fintech startup companies’ success. The methodological approach commenced with a systematic meta-analysis of theoretical paradigms, establishing a …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences And Leadership Perspectives Of Women Who Have Been Candidates For Elected Political Office, Angela M. Fentiman

Theses and Dissertations

Women’s underrepresentation in leadership is well-documented. Despite making gains in some leadership areas, underrepresentation persists in executive elected positions. Using a life course research framework that examines the life journey, along with leadership theory and literature explaining underrepresentation, this study goes beyond the numbers to explore the experiences of women who have run for executive elected office. Specifically, it includes the perspectives of 10 women who ran for governor during the 2022 U.S. midterm election. The participants demonstrate leadership approaches consistent with servant and authentic leadership and consider characteristics associated with those styles to be the ideal approaches for political …

Best Practices In Leadership In Probation, Ronamae Panganiban

Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that leadership in law enforcement is a continuous learning process (Birzer et al., 2016; Davies & Heysmand, 2021; Niles et al., 2024; Roberts et al., 2016). Due to the complex structure and changing environment, leadership responsibilities fall upon multiple individuals in a chain of command (C. Davis, 2020; G. W. Garner, 2016; Sienkiewicz-Malyjurek, 2016). The research study aimed to identify best practices for leadership in law enforcement that leaders employ that make them successful. It used a phenomenological qualitative design and purposive sampling method to obtain a sample size of 15 participants. The study utilized a semi structured …

Taking It To The Streets: A Comparative Case Study Of Urban Street Medicine Programs For The Unhoused Population, Dolly Dimple Harris

Theses and Dissertations

“Taking it to the Streets” originated from the 1960s social and political activism (Doohan & Mishori, 2019). The term reflects the 1990s movement when a Philadelphia physician decided that caring for the unhoused population was necessary and started street medicine. Street medicine is an alternative medical approach to formal healthcare intended to address unhoused individuals in their lived environment. In the street medicine model, healthcare providers offer medical support for the unhoused in alleyways, parks, under bridges, and encampments. The purpose of this comparative case study was to examine two street medicine programs’ administrative processes and how they provide healthcare …

Latina Physician Assistants In Clinical Leadership Roles: Motivations, Challenges, And Insights, Ana Ruiz-Peña

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the rapidly growing Latino population in the United States, only a few of them are physicians, physician assistants (PAs), or nurses. This limited representation becomes smaller with Latina PAs in clinical leadership roles, leading to a health disparity that could negatively impact the health care of the Latino community. To gain a deeper understanding of this issue, the researcher conducted a phenomenological qualitative study examining the lived experiences of Latina PAs in clinical leadership roles, focusing on their motivations, challenges, and strategies for overcoming these barriers. The study was theoretically grounded in theories related to culture, gender, and socioeconomic …

An Exploration Of The Clinical Senior Nursing Student Preceptor Relationship, Kimberly Nicole Dunker

Dissertations

Problem

The use of clinical preceptors for training is well documented in the literature as an effective strategy for helping students, new graduates, and RNs orient to their roles in healthcare facilities. The need to ensure that the preceptor is adequately trained and then matched to a preceptee for a successful relationship is a challenge. The healthcare facility does its best to identify a preceptor and ensure adequate training is completed and there is a willingness to facilitate the experience. The academic institution is required to ensure that preceptors are chosen based on criteria outlined by the board of nursing …

Women Leaders' Lived Experiences Of Bravery In Leadership, Michelle E. Bartlett

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Purpose

The research aims to understand the stories of women leaders who have demonstrated bravery in leadership. By analyzing their lived experiences through storytelling and narratives, it seeks to shed light on the challenges and motivations behind their brave actions, contributing to a deeper understanding of bravery in leadership within gender and organizational contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a qualitative multiple case study approach, focusing on the autobiographical accounts of three women leaders to explore their experiences of bravery in leadership. Utilizing narrative analysis (NA), it is grounded in ethical leadership theory and narrative identity theory. The research method involves …

Women In Nuclear Security: The United Arab Emirates Story, Mohamad Z. Zineddin

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Historically in the United Arab Emirates, security personnel stationed at nuclear sites were typically men with military or policing backgrounds. Although these groups bring important, transferrable skills and experience to the nuclear security mission, some Emirati stakeholders recognize the increased benefit of a greater diversity of voices and backgrounds within the nuclear security team hierarchy. By recruiting from a wider range of disciplines and encouraging gender diversity, the security team could develop broader insight into security challenges, and a greater variety of perspectives could bring forth more innovative solutions.

When aligning a diverse, multinational workforce with a common mission, all …

Mapping The Impact Of Leadership Training: A Ripple Effects Mapping Of The Kentucky Extension Homemaker Association’S First Leadership Academy, Kelly May

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

This research study evaluates the first Kentucky Extension Homemaker Association (KEHA) Leadership Academy using the participatory, qualitative evaluation tool Ripple Effects Mapping (REM). This study explored the impact and outcomes of the training, both intended and unintended.

REM is a participatory evaluation method that begins with appreciative inquiry, then continues with a group discussion where stories are “mapped” or illustrated in real time. Using the Theming and Rippling Method of REM, the research team coded the information on site with inductive theming and those themes were then shared and confirmed with the group. After the event, the mapped data was …

Either At The Table Or On The Menu: Strategies For Enabling Practitioner-Led Policy Co-Creation In Education Systems, Robert Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

Demands for educational transformation present unparalleled challenges for practitioners, as successive reform initiatives often exclude their voices and discount their expertise. Despite empirical evidence recognizing educators as key agents of change, systemic barriers continue to hinder their participation in policy-centered decision making. This study underscores the urgent need for education systems to invest in practitioner capacity-building, structural enablement, and cross-sector collaboration to create a more equitable and responsive future for education governance. A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed to explore how best to prepare and enable PK-12 practitioners to co-create education policy at the state level, aiming to empower them …

How To Catch A Con: The Rhetorical Strategies Of Fraudulent Political Leaders, Lukas Huntington

CMC Senior Theses

The United States faces persistent challenges in controlling political fraud. Government agencies exhibit the second-highest fraud rate of any industry, and corruption levels have only worsened over the last decade, contributing to declining public trust in national leadership. Current fraud detection efforts generally catch late-stage, large-scale fraud, highlighting the need for earlier-detection mechanisms. One way this could be accomplished involves identifying rhetorical patterns that are commonly used by political frauds in order to flag high-risk individuals. Leaning on the Theory of Planned Behavior, it was hypothesized that political frauds would exhibit more rhetorical appeals to fear, blame, pathos, and self-promotion …

Assessing Local Public Officials' Roles, Challenges, And Opportunities Encountered When Integrating Newcomers: A Case Study To Evaluate The Cities Of Rochester And Worthington., John Dassou

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Immigrants’ integration plays an important part in policy concerns and goals in many local governments since it is a major issue for local officials to integrate immigrants and incorporate them into the host community successfully. Concurrently, it is important to know the roles of local public officials, host communities, and immigrants in the process. The purpose of this study is to assess the challenges that local officials face, and how they handle these encounters effectively and efficiently. Greater collaboration between all stakeholders, social cohesion, and collective efforts implies the idea that immigrants’ integration depends on many players and factors. It …

Leadership In Behavioral Health, Rebecca Mccoy

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Leadership in healthcare is difficult when dealing with human contact in its most raw and vulnerable way. Leadership in behavioral health is just as challenging as direct practice practitioners tend to be the ones who move up into these roles. This study will exam “Identifying factors that promote successful leadership and challenges that cause barriers to having successful leadership in behavioral health.” This includes soft and hard skill knowledge, growth opportunities and the strengths and struggles in moving into leadership roles in this industry.

The study is based on phenomenological research to gain an understanding of the individual experience …

A Power Dependence Model Of The Impact Of Leader Impostorism On Supervisor Support And Undermining: The Moderating Role Of Power Distance, Xueqi Wen, Zihan Liu, Feng Qiu, Keith Leavitt, Xingyu Wang, Ziyang Tang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Leaders, often perceived as possessing exceptional confidence and competence, are not immune to feelings of self-doubt. Leader impostorism describes the experience that one’s attributes, experiences, skills, and abilities fall short of the standards expected in the leadership role, resulting in a sense of deception in fulfilling leadership responsibilities. While existing research has examined the antecedents and individual outcomes of leader impostorism, its implications for leaders’ treatment of subordinates remain largely unexplored. In this research, we investigate the downstream consequences of leader impostorism on behaviors directed toward subordinates. Integrating research on leader impostorism with power dependence theory, we propose that for …

International School Leaders’ Lived Experiences Of Crises And Perceptions Of Trust, Shary L. Marshall

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

International school leaders worldwide have navigated their schools through a variety of crises. Their unique lived experiences offer insights into the role of trust in leadership, particularly during times of crisis.

This qualitative study employed a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of 12 experienced international school leaders. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Using the theoretical lenses of authentic leadership, sensemaking, loose coupling, and crisis leadership, this study illuminates the central role of trust in leading schools through crises.

Three significant themes emerged from the analysis. First, trust is foundational to leadership and is built through intentional, transparent …

Navigating Stress In Higher Education Leadership: The Role Of Mindful Meditation For Women Administrators, Christine T. Harper

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Women higher education administrators encounter distinct stressors which can significantly impact wellbeing and lead to burnout. These challenges include implicit bias, difficulty achieving work-life balance, and increasing institutional expectations. This study utilizes a Mixed Methods Action Research (MMAR) framework to assess stress levels, trait mindfulness, coping mechanisms, and the effectiveness of a structured mindfulness-based intervention. While the quantitative analysis revealed only a slight increase in trait mindfulness and no notable reduction in stress levels, the qualitative findings showcased meaningful personal benefits to the participants. They reported heightened awareness of stress triggers, improved emotion regulation, and an ability to apply the …

Becoming A Leader “On The Job”: An Exploratory Study Examining How Internal Interim Leaders Build Their Leadership Capacity While Nonprofit Executive Directors Are On Sabbatical, Michelle Schneider

Dissertations

Nonprofit organizations have long underinvested in leadership development, potentially hindering their ability to fulfill their missions effectively. This study examined the use of nonprofit organization sabbaticals that give executive directors time away while building the leadership capabilities of the interim leader. This research explored the on-the-job leadership development of six individuals who served as interim leaders in southern California nonprofit organizations during their executive directors' participation in a 3-month, foundation-funded sabbatical program.

In this study, data were collected through in-depth interviews with interim leaders. A formative influences timeline technique was employed to center the participant's voice rather than the interviewer's …

Fostering Collaboration And Synergy: Utilizing The Lorna Model Of Problem Solving To Assist New Leaders With Pre-Existing Teams, Kennetia A. Brooks

Doctor of Leadership Projects

New leaders can face several challenges that hinder their ability to succeed. Ranking high on these challenges is the absence of developed skills to manage others, make strategic decisions, and navigate new workplace cultures. Another hurdle can be an inability to build effective, synergetic teams. Specific leadership training is necessary to establish collaboration and success amongst team members. Through literature research and leadership experiences, one training has been developed and used to equip new leaders for these tasks. The LORNA Model is a prescriptive approach to problem-solving that intentionally navigates through workplace relationships and incorporates elements of team members’ recognition, …