Examining Daoist Big-Five leadership in cross-cultural and gender perspectives.

Abstract

Based on Daoist philosophy and previous research (i.e., Lee, 2003; Lee, Han, Byron, & Fan, 2008; Y.-T. Lee, Yang, & Wang, 2009; also see Watts, 1975), a Daoist model of leadership has been proposed. This study aimed to investigate how student participants of different cultural and gender backgrounds responded to the Daoist Big Five (i.e., altruism, modesty, flexibility, honesty, and perseverance) leadership dimensions. Participants (N = 448) from China (N = 213) and the United States (N = 235) made judgments on a series of traits and behaviors thought to be representative of the five leadership dimensions. These judgments were explored by principal component analysis and yielded five major components that were labeled perseverance, modesty, altruism, flexibility, and honesty. Results revealed differences in judgments as a function of culture and gender. In particular, Americans judged themselves to be more perseverant, modest, and flexible, whereas Chinese judged themselves to be more altruistic and honest. Additionally women judged themselves to be more modest and altruistic than their male counterparts. The interplay between culture and gender was also influential in their judgments on Daoist Big Five. American women judged themselves to be more modest and perseverant than Chinese women, and Chinese men judged themselves to be more altruistic than American men. The implications and limitations of this cross-cultural and cross-gender study are discussed.

The traditional Chinese philosophies in inter-cultural leadership

“…A thorough examination of traditional Chinese philosophies and their core principles is needed (Ma and Tsui, 2015), and researchers are encouraged to conduct component analyses to delineate the relevant core content. Lee et al (2013) found that Taoist leadership includes five components, i.e., perseverance, modesty, altruism, flexibility, and honesty. The results obtained by those authors also revealed differences in endorsement as a function of nationality.…”

“…Similar to water, an effective leader should be transparent and honest. In addition, Taoism encourages leaders to be humble and modest, just as water always flows to the lowest level (Lee et al , 2013). Based on its beliefs regarding humanity and nature, Taoism anticipates and advocates people’s conformity to nature (Cheung and Chan, 2008).…”

Cross-cultural Leadership Effectiveness: Perspectives from Non-Western Leaders

“…This accords with Daoist leadership, which suggests "modesty or humbleness, willingness to help and benefit others and the ability to maintain a low profile are qualities essential to a good leader" (Lee et al, 2014, p.268). According to Laozi, modest and humble people not only demonstrate harmony with others, but are also effective leaders (Lee et al, 2014). …”

Leadership Style in Relation to Gender Role and Masculine Values: Being Daoist Water‐Like or Agentic?

“…Daoist water‐like leadership research is unique and well supported by empirical studies (Lee et al, 2015; Lee, Haught, et al, 2013; also see Li et al, 2020); however, little research has been done to compare Eastern Daoist leadership with Western leadership in relation to the leader's gender role and the perceiver's (follower's) masculine values. Therefore, the current study extended Daoist water‐like leadership research and compared it to a non‐Daoist Western leadership style (agentic leadership).…”

“…Expanding theories of leadership to incorporate diversity and to be more inclusive in leadership studies seems necessary and urgent (Chen, 2018; Chin et al, 2018). Eastern Daoist water‐like leadership, conversely, addresses service, modesty, humility, and gentleness (Lee, 1993; Lee et al, 2008; Lee, Haught, et al, 2013; Lee & Holt, 2019a). The current study focused on Daoist water‐like leadership, which is based on Lee and colleagues' theoretical and empirical work on the Daoist water‐like (also known as Daoist Big‐five) traits, viz., altruistic, humble, flexible, transparent, and gentle/soft but also perseverant/persistent (e.g., Lee, 2019; Lee et al., 2008; Lee, Haught, et al, 2013).…”