Family stress influences workplace leader-follower
relationships. The purpose of this study
is to... more Family stress influences workplace leader-follower relationships. The purpose of this study is to understand how the presence of a significant emotional event, such as the life-threatening illness of a follower’s child, influences leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships. An adapted LMX-7 instrument was used to conduct in-depth interviews of 12 participants to collect data of follower perceptions. Participants were employed parents whose children were diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. Data were analyzed using a phenomenological method. Four themes emerged: a loss of trust, a new rapport, a change in support, and a shift in priorities. Recommendations and implications regarding the perceived effects of life-threatening illnesses on leader-follower relationships are discussed.
Theories of collaboration exist at the interfirm and intergroup level, but not the intragroup
or ... more Theories of collaboration exist at the interfirm and intergroup level, but not the intragroup or team level. Team interactions are often framed in terms of leadership and followership, a categorization which may, or may not, accurately reflect the dynamics of intragroup interactions. To create a grounded theory of collaboration, the Farmer’s Exercise was given to groups of students, their interactions were recorded and post-exercise interviews of participants and observers were done. From a detailed analysis of the recordings and interviews a grounded theory of collaboration was developed. Two broad categories of collaborative behavior formed the frame of the theory that we call Collaborative Theory (CT). The first category, Individual First, is composed of three causal themes: turn-taking, observing or doing, and status seeking. The second category, Team First, also has three causal themes: influencing others, organizing work, and building group cohesion. This second theme can be identified with managerial and leadership action but we argue that it need not. Although this is a preliminary study subject to further validation and testing, CT already identifies collaborative behaviors that shed new light on intragroup interactions.
For the last few decades (1980's through the present), the majority of social psychology research... more For the last few decades (1980's through the present), the majority of social psychology research into leadership dynamics of an organization has focused on the management employee, treating the rank and file with cursory interest through studies on productivity, job satisfaction and retention. With the introduction of the terms "Follower" and "Followership" injected into the leadership/management vocabulary, social psychologists and leadership consultants began taking a fresh new look at the human side of work. This new line of inquiry focuses on the follower in the organization, while this paper takes a close look at the leader-follower dynamic in the workplace. The literature review identified eight workforce relationship factors as common themes within the leader-follower relationship. These selected categories identify the multifaceted leader-follower dynamic to working relationships, showing whether leader and the follower have a distal (or psychologically distant), or proximal (or psychologically aligned) relationship, and whether each is comfortable with their working arrangement (positive or negative). To better illuminate this interaction of opposites, a case scenario will be employed to describe how proximal and distal interactions look before and after an upsetting workplace event.
Family stress influences workplace leader-follower
relationships. The purpose of this study
is to... more Family stress influences workplace leader-follower relationships. The purpose of this study is to understand how the presence of a significant emotional event, such as the life-threatening illness of a follower’s child, influences leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships. An adapted LMX-7 instrument was used to conduct in-depth interviews of 12 participants to collect data of follower perceptions. Participants were employed parents whose children were diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. Data were analyzed using a phenomenological method. Four themes emerged: a loss of trust, a new rapport, a change in support, and a shift in priorities. Recommendations and implications regarding the perceived effects of life-threatening illnesses on leader-follower relationships are discussed.
Theories of collaboration exist at the interfirm and intergroup level, but not the intragroup
or ... more Theories of collaboration exist at the interfirm and intergroup level, but not the intragroup or team level. Team interactions are often framed in terms of leadership and followership, a categorization which may, or may not, accurately reflect the dynamics of intragroup interactions. To create a grounded theory of collaboration, the Farmer’s Exercise was given to groups of students, their interactions were recorded and post-exercise interviews of participants and observers were done. From a detailed analysis of the recordings and interviews a grounded theory of collaboration was developed. Two broad categories of collaborative behavior formed the frame of the theory that we call Collaborative Theory (CT). The first category, Individual First, is composed of three causal themes: turn-taking, observing or doing, and status seeking. The second category, Team First, also has three causal themes: influencing others, organizing work, and building group cohesion. This second theme can be identified with managerial and leadership action but we argue that it need not. Although this is a preliminary study subject to further validation and testing, CT already identifies collaborative behaviors that shed new light on intragroup interactions.
For the last few decades (1980's through the present), the majority of social psychology research... more For the last few decades (1980's through the present), the majority of social psychology research into leadership dynamics of an organization has focused on the management employee, treating the rank and file with cursory interest through studies on productivity, job satisfaction and retention. With the introduction of the terms "Follower" and "Followership" injected into the leadership/management vocabulary, social psychologists and leadership consultants began taking a fresh new look at the human side of work. This new line of inquiry focuses on the follower in the organization, while this paper takes a close look at the leader-follower dynamic in the workplace. The literature review identified eight workforce relationship factors as common themes within the leader-follower relationship. These selected categories identify the multifaceted leader-follower dynamic to working relationships, showing whether leader and the follower have a distal (or psychologically distant), or proximal (or psychologically aligned) relationship, and whether each is comfortable with their working arrangement (positive or negative). To better illuminate this interaction of opposites, a case scenario will be employed to describe how proximal and distal interactions look before and after an upsetting workplace event.
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Papers by Rodger Adair
relationships. The purpose of this study
is to understand how the presence of a significant
emotional event, such as the life-threatening illness
of a follower’s child, influences leader-member
exchange (LMX) relationships. An adapted LMX-7
instrument was used to conduct in-depth interviews
of 12 participants to collect data of follower
perceptions. Participants were employed
parents whose children were diagnosed with life-threatening
illnesses. Data were analyzed using a
phenomenological method. Four themes emerged:
a loss of trust, a new rapport, a change in support,
and a shift in priorities. Recommendations and
implications regarding the perceived effects of life-threatening
illnesses on leader-follower relationships
are discussed.
or team level. Team interactions are often framed in terms of leadership and followership, a
categorization which may, or may not, accurately reflect the dynamics of intragroup interactions.
To create a grounded theory of collaboration, the Farmer’s Exercise was given to groups of
students, their interactions were recorded and post-exercise interviews of participants and
observers were done. From a detailed analysis of the recordings and interviews a grounded
theory of collaboration was developed. Two broad categories of collaborative behavior formed
the frame of the theory that we call Collaborative Theory (CT). The first category, Individual
First, is composed of three causal themes: turn-taking, observing or doing, and status seeking.
The second category, Team First, also has three causal themes: influencing others, organizing
work, and building group cohesion. This second theme can be identified with managerial and
leadership action but we argue that it need not. Although this is a preliminary study subject to
further validation and testing, CT already identifies collaborative behaviors that shed new light
on intragroup interactions.
relationships. The purpose of this study
is to understand how the presence of a significant
emotional event, such as the life-threatening illness
of a follower’s child, influences leader-member
exchange (LMX) relationships. An adapted LMX-7
instrument was used to conduct in-depth interviews
of 12 participants to collect data of follower
perceptions. Participants were employed
parents whose children were diagnosed with life-threatening
illnesses. Data were analyzed using a
phenomenological method. Four themes emerged:
a loss of trust, a new rapport, a change in support,
and a shift in priorities. Recommendations and
implications regarding the perceived effects of life-threatening
illnesses on leader-follower relationships
are discussed.
or team level. Team interactions are often framed in terms of leadership and followership, a
categorization which may, or may not, accurately reflect the dynamics of intragroup interactions.
To create a grounded theory of collaboration, the Farmer’s Exercise was given to groups of
students, their interactions were recorded and post-exercise interviews of participants and
observers were done. From a detailed analysis of the recordings and interviews a grounded
theory of collaboration was developed. Two broad categories of collaborative behavior formed
the frame of the theory that we call Collaborative Theory (CT). The first category, Individual
First, is composed of three causal themes: turn-taking, observing or doing, and status seeking.
The second category, Team First, also has three causal themes: influencing others, organizing
work, and building group cohesion. This second theme can be identified with managerial and
leadership action but we argue that it need not. Although this is a preliminary study subject to
further validation and testing, CT already identifies collaborative behaviors that shed new light
on intragroup interactions.