Connectivity and Leadership

Abstract

Learning to lead online is imperative for the future of leadership. Whether they like it or not, even if they prefer face-to-face interactions, leaders of the future must be able to develop a sense of closeness with others, whether they be down the hall or around the world. In this study, face-to-face residential workshops were matched with online sessions over an 18-month period. Data from 75 participants, ranging from 18-year-olds to senior corporate executives, suggest that levels of online communication are positively correlated to perceptions of closeness among peers and that the relationship between peer closeness and leadership outcomes is moderated by online activity.

A systematic review and framework for digital leadership research maturity in higher education

“…Similarly, out of 11 non-randomised quantitative studies only three [86,89,120] met all the criteria assigned to this category. While one of these studies [6] failed to meet any criteria, the remaining eight studies showed limited level of representativeness in the sample [61,78], incomplete reporting of data [30] and the insufficient account of confounders in design and analysis [100].…”

“…However, there are a four studies [36,78,100,112] that lean towards a more critical perspective, making passing observations of greater complexity of leadership processes. The location of leadership in most studies was presented as uncontested, with little reflection on the inter-dependencies between stakeholders, or possible tensions between different organizational levels.…”

A Literature Review on Human Behavioral Pattern through Social Media Use

“…E-Leadership is defined as a social influence process mediated by AIT (Advanced Information Technology) to produce a change in attitudes, feelings, thinking, behavior, and/or performance of individuals, groups, and/or organizations. Kolb et al (2009) in their study of 75 individuals ranging from 18-year olds to senior corporate executives have found that technical connectivity is directly related to leadership effectiveness. Huang et al (2010) found through a laboratory study that transactional leadership behaviors improve task cohesion of the team, whereas transformational leadership behaviors improve cooperative climate within the team which, in turn, improves task cohesion, in virtual world subject to perceived media richness.…”

Developing the Practice of Online Leadership

“…The possibility of multi-media, many to many interactions through advanced information technology (AIT) collectively known as Web 2.0 has moved more work online; leadership practice is now enacted more frequently in virtual team settings (Hambley, 2007;Lipnack & Stamps, 1999;Ziek & Smulowitz, 2014). Hence the context for leadership as 'a social influence process' (Parry, 1998) increasingly depends on the quality and availability of electronic channels between highly interconnected network nodes who may be individuals or groups (Kolb, Prussia, & Francoeur, 2009). Avolio et al (2000) dubbed this intersection of technological infrastructure and distributed leadership influence 'e-leadership'.…”