Acceptance of uncertainty as an indicator of effective leadership.

Abstract

Research and experience continue to reveal evolving modes of leadership behavior that challenge the practice of consulting psychology. Leadership development that has taken us beyond the notion of born leaders and stable environments has suggested that flexibility is vital. This may be partly because of the constant evolution of the organization and its leadership challenges, from command-and-control to paradigms that are participatory and recognize the importance of interpersonal skills, to an emerging paradigm concerned with organizational learning. Consulting psychologists have identified a wide variety of leadership modes or ideals to fit these newer paradigms. Common to many of these is the need to be comfortable navigating ambiguous situations. One of the metrics that is indicative of this skill is the capacity to effectively process the uncertainty that often accompanies ambiguity. We present preliminary data for a potential tool for assessing this skill. We suggest that measuring an individual's “aptitude for ambiguity” should be considered when identifying high performers for leadership roles.

Wisdom and narcissism as predictors of transformational leadership

“…Employees with a greater awareness of uncertainty and a better ability to deal with uncertain and uncontrollable situations were perceived as demonstrating more transformational leadership behaviors by their colleagues, independent of other individual differences. This finding is consistent with recent research on leadership and uncertainty (Cicero et al, 2010;White and Shullman, 2010). For instance, Cicero et al (2010) found that the degree to which leaders are prototypical of their groups was more strongly related to leadership success when employees experienced high levels of role ambiguity.…”

“…However, the positive relationship found between uncertainty management and transformational leadership is consistent with recent theorizing and empirical findings from other studies (Cicero et al, 2010;White and Shullman, 2010). Thus, organizational practitioners could train leaders so that they become better at recognizing and managing uncertainty.…”

“…Followers are likely to attribute transformational characteristics to such leaders. Consistent with our assumptions, recent research has shown that leaders are perceived as more successful if they reduce employees' feelings of uncertainty (Cicero et al, 2010;White and Shullman, 2010):…”

Leadership and Counseling Psychology: What Should We Know? Where Could We Go?

“…Hodgson and White (2001) identified a set of behaviors characteristic of leaders who were viewed as having led successfully during periods of heighted ambiguity and concomitant uncertainty; these included (a) seeking mysteries, (b) tolerating risk, (c) future scanning, (d) tenacious challenging, (e) exciting and invigorating oneself and others, (f) flexibly adjusting, simplifying, and (g) focusing on the critical few. White and Shullman (2010) demonstrated the relationship of these behaviors to perceptions of leader success with an international pool of leaders. They found that the presence of these behaviors in dealing with ambiguity were positively correlated with leader success.…”

Conceptualizing Learning Agility and Investigating its Nomological Network

“…It seems evident that in order to succeed, particularly at higher levels in an organization, there needs to be some level of comfort with ambiguous situations. White and Shullman (2010) propose that acceptance of ambiguity is an important indicator of the effectiveness of a leader; however, tolerance for ambiguity is rarely included as a critical trait for effective leaders (Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009). …”