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Volume 7, Issue 1 / Winter 2011
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IN THIS ISSUE

From the Editor
Dr. William O. Welsh, III

Greetings Fellow Travelers. With this issue, I am honored to accept editorial responsibility for the International Journal of Leadership Studies. Although our journal is quite small, we nonetheless make an important contribution to understanding leadership responsibility globally in the 21st century. I want to express the deepest appreciation to my predecessor, Dr. Dail Fields, for six plus years guiding IJLS to its present state of development. I also wish to thank Dr. Brenda Johnson for her contributions as associate editor. Although it appears, at the moment, that our reviewer board membership will remain intact, I also want to express my admiration for their past contributions, as well, and look forward to working with them. They are the peers in peer-reviewed.

Looking forward, I and new Associate Editor Dr. Diane Norbutus will ensure that IJLS remains a first-time author friendly environment for high quality articles. As IJLS is foremost a research journal, we will solicit, and readers will certainly notice over time, an increasing emphasis on studies and theory directed toward actual leading in change-seeking circumstances, especially where such leading and theory of leading best reflects 21st century yearning for democracy, equality, and human dignity. We are quite open to proposals for special or themed issues. [more]


BOOK REVIEW
Henry L. Thompson’s (2010)
The Stress Effect

Stuart A. Allen

Henry L. Thompson’s (2010) The Stress Effect provides a unique exploration of the impact of stress on leaders’ decision-making, viewing the leader through the lenses of cognition, emotion, and stress management, and providing practical insight on how to cope with and avoid stress. Thompson’s submission provides a well-grounded understanding with useful anecdotes and examples, as well as a practical primer for stress resilience. [more]


PRACTIONERS CORNER
Moving From Trance to Think:
Why We Need to Polish our Critical Thinking Skills

Joan F. Marques

Critical thinking is a crucial prerequisite for responsible human performance not only in organizations, but also in every area of life. Yet, this quality is often downplayed, which is reflected in high numbers of disgruntled working adults. Dissatisfied workforce members are often only partly aware of the reasons for their dissatisfaction, which may be linked to sparse critical thinking about their purpose in life. Critical thinking enables a broader perspective and the ability to rise beyond standardized thought patterns. This ability leads to creative breakthroughs regarding directions and activities that fulfill personal and societal needs of longitudinal meaning, motivation, performance improvement, and general wellbeing. As a think-piece for the second decade of the 21st century, this article provides an overview of some important factors that prevent critical thinking, captured in the telling acronym “TRANCE,” and some important actions that enhance critical thinking, represented in the equally divulging term “THINK.” The article also discusses the specific parts of TRANCE that are addressed as one begins practicing specific elements of THINK. [more]


Fear Can be Conquered to Allow a Person to Lead
Sharon Whitehall

It is important for people to realize that if they are willing, they can step into a leadership position and help others. The ability to empower comes not from the position a person holds, but from a person’s willingness to serve others. When a person has been consumed by fear, it takes much effort to become willing to reach out and help other abused individuals. Abuse survivors work through multiple layers of pain, grief, and loss as they try to find their true selves and their places in the world (Daniluk & Phillip, 2004). Abused individuals need the help of others to guide them through the healing process. A victim needs someone trustworthy to whom to disclose the trauma, and the servant-leader’s attributes of honesty, integrity, and trust can be beneficial in helping an abused person. When a former victim is able to actualize her potential—not only due to her efforts, but also because people in her life were willing to prioritize her needs—she becomes “healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and… more servant-like [herself]” (Greenleaf, 1977, p. 8). [more]
 
Motivation and Leader-Member Exchange: Evidence Counter to Similarity Attraction Theory
John E. Barbuto, Jr. & Gregory T. Gifford
This study tests the similarity attraction paradigm using a measure of work motivation and leader-member exchanges. Seventy-five elected officials were sampled along with 368 of their staffers. Results indicate actual self-reported differences in sources of work motivation were not predictive of leader-follower exchanges, which is counter to the similarity attraction paradigm. It is argued that perceived similarity offers greater prediction of leader-member exchange quality than actual self-reported differences. [more]
 
Toxic Versus Cooperative Behaviors at Work: The Role of Organizational Culture and Leadership in Creating Community-Centered Organizations
Jacqueline A. Gilbert, Norma Carr-Ruffino, John M. Ivancevich & Robert Konopaske
Recent headlines highlight the literal toxicity spewing from companies such as BP (oil spill), Hillandale Farms (salmonella poisoning), and W.R. Grace (vermiculite/asbestos poisoning). These incidents bring to mind an earlier rash of visible and high profile executives from such companies as Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco, who made headlines because of their self-centered, covetous, and irresponsible behavior towards shareholders and employees (Ivancevich, Duening, Gilbert, & Konopaske, 2003). Scholars suggest that such toxic behavior on the part of organizational leaders and managers exerts a negative impact on employee and firm productivity (Goldman, 2008; Vega & Comer, 2005). In this paper, we define the concept of a toxic workplace and discuss what factors contribute to its development. When leaders in organizations routinely display toxicity toward their employees (exhibited through excessive employee monitoring, micro-management, and politically-motivated performance appraisals), the outcomes will be radically different than from organizations in which community or collaboration is practiced. We argue that managers and leaders should attempt to reduce the amount of toxic influence within their organizations while consciously attempting to cultivate a community-centered organizational culture. We develop several testable propositions that explore how these two contrasting organizational models may influence important human resource and organizational outcomes. We conclude the paper with a discussion of community-centered organizations and provide suggestions on how to test a sample of our propositions with future research. [more]
 
The Perspective and Practice of Leadership by Managers Within a State Correctional Agency: An Instrumental Case Study
Elizabeth M. Gagnon
This study explores the extent to which the perspective and practice of leadership by managers in a state correctional agency in the southeastern United States reflect the Leadership Perspectives Model (LPM). The LPM is a model of leadership that places leadership perception into five distinct perspectives managers use in their understanding and practice of leadership. Using an instrumental case study method, the research was designed to test the model. The findings of this research reveal that the perspective and practice of leadership by managers within the organization only partially reflect the LPM. Recommendations are made for further refinement of the model to strengthen its usability as a mechanism by which leadership perspectives can be identified and potentially enlarged. [more]
 
Cultivating Intercultural Leaders
Kyung Kyu Kim & Richard L. Starcher
With the aim of informing future efforts to cultivate intercultural leaders, this article explores factors contributing to twelve native-born Koreans' rises to prominent positions of intercultural leadership. Research participants were purposefully selected from three different leadership levels: three cross-cultural community leaders, three cross-cultural national leaders, and six international leaders. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, emailed open-ended questions, and the review of archival materials. Data analysis identified six key factors divided into two broad categories: external influences and internal dispositions. External influences consisted of family heritage, pivotal encounters, and academic achievement/schooling. Internal dispositions consisted of individual attitudes, acquired skills, and personality traits. The article concludes with recommendations for parents and educators cultivating intercultural leaders in the next generation. [more]
 
Defining Relational Distance for Today’s Leaders
Laura Erskine
Work relationships, and thus, the experiences of work itself, are affected by perceptions of “distance.” Distance influences leader-follower relationships, which in turn have been shown to impact many organizational outcomes (Bass, 1990; Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996; Northhouse, 2001). In this study, a literature review across five different scholarly fields provides theoretical arguments for three related dimensions of relational distance. Relational distance is the perception that distance between leaders and followers occurs in three interrelated dimensions: structural, status, and psychological. The dimensionality of relational distance is contextualized with quotes from employees experiencing various types of distance. The multidimensionality of relational distance reveals a fertile ground for future leadership research. [more]
 
Supervisor Behavior and Employee Presenteeism
Brad Gilbreath & Leila Karimi
Presenteeism happens when employees are at work, but their cognitive energy is not devoted to their work. This study investigated the extent to which supervisor behavior is associated with employee presenteeism. It also investigated the efficacy of a measure of job-stress-related presenteeism. Australian employees completed a questionnaire asking how often they experience job-stress-related presenteeism and about their supervisors’ behaviors. Results supported the hypothesis that supervisor behavior is associated with employees’ presenteeism. Negative supervisor behaviors were more strongly correlated with presenteeism than positive supervisor behaviors. These results suggest presenteeism is subject to supervisor influence. In addition, results indicate that the measure of job-stress-related presenteeism pilot-tested in this study has good internal-consistency reliability and validity. [more]
 

Please note: Views and opinions expressed in the articles published in the International Journal of Leadership Studies (IJLS) represent each author's research and viewpoint and do not necessarily represent IJLS or its sponsors. IJLS and its sponsors make no representations about the accuracy of the information contained in published manuscripts and disclaims any and all responsibility or liability resulting from the information contained in the IJLS.



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