Virtual charismatic leadership and signaling theory: A prospective meta-analysis in five countries

Ernst, Brittany A.; Banks, George C.; Loignon, Andrew C.; Frear, Katherine A.; Williams, Courtney E.; Arciniega, Luis M.; Gupta, Roopak Kumar; Kodydek, Georg; Subramanian, Dilip

doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101541

Cited by 35 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…This change directly impacts the modes of communication, shifting from face-to-face to online meetings, or even asynchronous forms such as text messages, audio, or video recordings. Leaders, thus, must adapt their management and especially their communication style and engage in so-called digital or virtual leadership [2]. When choosing a communication mode and style, leaders must keep in mind their followers' expectations, the difficulty of transmitting information, and the standard ways of communicating in their business.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, intellectual stimulation (questioning and challenging followers) and individual consideration (attending to the need for growth) are harder to achieve in a remote setting. However, the concept of transformational leadership has been heavily criticized for its lack of a clear definition and causal evidence [2], [4], [5]. In the following, the focus is thus on studies providing clear, causal evidence based on observed follower behavior.…”

Section: Charismatic and Transformational Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The instructions built upon each other such that they all differed in length with the full charisma setup providing the longest instructions to the participants. In contrast, a different study from 2021 conducted several studies using video messages [2]. The sample mainly consisted of students hired to participate in an online experiment.…”

Section: Charismatic and Transformational Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PETRA NIEKEN | Digital leadership: Motivating online workers However, the task had no clear moral component, such as the tasks used in [2] and [12]. The gig workers were exposed either to a neutral task instruction or a task instruction using charismatic signals.…”

Section: Charismatic and Transformational Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Digital leadership: Motivating online workers

Nieken¹

2022

izawol

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Remote work and digital collaborations are ubiquitous and reduce a leader's available instruments to motivate their followers. This problem is even more prevalent in online labor markets where there is no personal contact. Digital leadership relying on communication such as charismatic rhetorical techniques as well as body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice, can increase follower performance even in anonymous online settings. However, leaders must pay close attention to deliver a congruent appearance; otherwise the communication techniques might backfire, leading to lower output levels. ELEVATOR PITCHRemote work and digital collaborations are prevalent in the business world and many employees use digital communication tools routinely in their jobs. Communication shifts from face-to-face meetings to asynchronous formats using text, audio, or video messages. This shift leads to a reduction of information and signals leaders can send and receive. Do classical leadership and communication techniques such as transformational or charismatic leadership signaling still work in those online settings or do leaders have to rely on transactional leadership techniques such as contingent reward and punishment tools in the remote setting? KEY FINDINGS ConsIncreasing payment schemes does not induce higher output levels in general. Unreflected usage of single charismatic rhetorical techniques or references to previous good performance can lead to reduced delivered output. Non-congruent usage of verbal and non-verbal charismatic signals and communication modes can backfire and lead to lower output.There is mixed evidence regarding the effect of rhetorical techniques in written communication. ProsIntroducing performance pay leads to higher output in online labor markets. Charismatic leadership communication and signaling can increase worker output considerably in remote settings without leading to monetary costs. Leaders using rhetorical techniques, an animated tone of voice, facial expressions, and body gestures are perceived as more charismatic in written, audio, or video messages. The quality of work is not affected by performance pay, punishment mechanisms, or leadership techniques. Workers' desired amount of post-Covid working from home days Source: Based on data in [1]. Note: Sample is respondents able to work from home. Rarely or never 1 day per week 2 days per week 3 days per week 4 days per week 5 days per week 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 Percentage of respondents

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Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Charismatic and Transformational Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Charismatic and Transformational Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Charismatic and Transformational Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Digital leadership: Motivating online workers

Nieken¹

2022

izawol

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“…These reasons lie at the heart of why envisioning has largely been considered as a hallmark of successful leadership (Baum et al, 1998;Berson et al, 2015Berson et al, , 2016Greer et al, 2012;Halevy et al, 2011;Kohles et al, 2012;Nanus, 1995). Moreover, the benefits of leading with vision have been demonstrated both in studies that include leader and follower perceptions of vision communication (Kopperud et al, 2014) and in experimental intervention studies, where a higher degree of visionary behaviors consistently lead to better outcomes (Antonakis et al, 2011;Meslec et al, 2020;Ernst et al, 2021).…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Turning visions into results: unraveling the distinctive paths of leading with vision and autonomy to goal achievement

Maran

Baldegger

Klösel

2021

LODJ

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PurposeLeading with vision while granting employees autonomy is one effective organizational response to the demands of a dynamic external environment. The former is thought to align followers' behavior by providing guidance, the latter to increase variance in their behavior by relinquishing control; both exert beneficial but distinct effects on organizational performance. What has remained uncharted heretofore is how these leader behaviors shape their followers' cognition and, subsequently, yield improvements in performance. The authors argue that a leader's vision communication transforms followers' cognitive representation of their work. This not only enables them to specify their goals in alignment with the vision (goal clarity) but also to locate the meaning of their work within the bigger picture of the vision (construal level). By contrast, perceived autonomy in terms of power-sharing might directly affect followers' work engagement more narrowly.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested the model on a sample of 408 employees from eleven enterprises of a holding company. In the survey, employees reported perceived vision communication and autonomy provided by their leader. Furthermore, the authors assessed the employees' goal attainment. To capture how employees represent their daily work activities, the authors measured their construal level and their goal clarity.FindingsThe results show that both perceived vision communication and granted autonomy improve employees' goal achievement. Moreover, two processes mediate the relationship between vision communication and goal achievement in followers: first, specifying goals in terms of clarity; second, composing a higher-level mental construal of their work. In contrast, no mediation of empowering leader behaviors was found.Originality/valueBetter goal achievement through visionary leadership is therefore achieved through cognitive alignment of followers, while leader-granted autonomy acts as a motivational tool directly on performance.

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The Backdrop of Leadership: How Environmental Awe Influences Charisma Attributions

McGuire,

Bastardoz,

Hentrup

et al. 2024

J Organ Behavior

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Charisma is often attributed to leaders based on how they look, talk, and behave. Yet very little is known about the role of the physical environment in influencing attributions of leader charisma. The role of the physical environment is crucial because leaders inevitably occupy physical spaces that vary across contexts. In this research, we find that the grandeur of the physical environment, specifically in its ability to induce awe, enhances attributions of charisma for leaders who are not already known to be charismatic. First, in a field experiment, we show that a real business leader is attributed with more charisma when delivering a speech in an awe‐inducing (vs. an ordinary) environment. In three follow‐up experiments, we find that awe‐inducing physical environments amplify charisma attributions and that this effect was diminished or absent for individuals already known for their charisma. Together, our findings contribute to the leadership literature by demonstrating the importance of the physical environment in influencing whether followers consider their leaders to be charismatic.

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Virtual charismatic leadership and signaling theory: A prospective meta-analysis in five countries

Cited by 35 publications

References 70 publications

Digital leadership: Motivating online workers

Digital leadership: Motivating online workers

Turning visions into results: unraveling the distinctive paths of leading with vision and autonomy to goal achievement

The Backdrop of Leadership: How Environmental Awe Influences Charisma Attributions

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