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Why Leader Humility is Vital to Effective Humanitarian Aid Leadership: A Review of the Literature
Abstract
Organizational scientists are paying increasing attention to the scientific study of humility, following a larger trend in scholarship which has emphasized the relational and interdependent nature of leadership and of business. A growing body of evidence identifies humility as vital to effective organizational leadership, facilitating positive organizational outcomes (e.g., lower voluntary turnover and higher follower job satisfaction, engagement, and performance). To date, existing research on humility has focused on certain specific organizational contexts, such as businesses, hospitals, and schools. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature and explore theoretical considerations on why humility may be an especially important leader trait for international humanitarian aid organizations and relief work—a context that is not only uniquely challenging, but also one that would seemingly stand to keenly benefit from humility. We argue that humility in humanitarian aid is vital to effective humanitarian aid leadership because it is normative of good character, it is predictive of positive outcomes, and it corresponds to a genuine representation of the nature of humanitarian aid work.
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... There is evidence that positive leadership can counter WF imbalance (Lyu et al., 2019;Kwan et al., 2020;Wang et al., 2017). However, humble leadership practices encountering the HIWP and WF imbalance perceptions are interesting interventions in existing literature (Wang et al., 2020). Based on Hobfoll's (1989) conservation of resource (COR) theory, we foresee humble leadership to buffer the relationship between HIWP and WF imbalance. ...
... This study also stretches epistemological boundaries of humble leadership as a workplace practice by investigating its moderating role. A close reading of the recent review of humble leadership suggests that it is missed in recently held studies (Wang et al., 2020). ...
... As expected, humble leadership's moderating effect is supported (H3), extending our understanding of the relationship between HIWP and WF imbalance. The results support already published work and further strengthen the belief that employee's well-being via positive leadership is a longterm management development initiative to be taken up seriously to ensure sustainable organization (Wang et al., 2020). Previous research also suggests that positive leadership is a moral support resource that can trigger positive feelings and actions among employees (Inceoglu et al., 2018). ...
Purpose
Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate high involvement work practices (HIWP) as an antecedent to burnout with a mediating role of perceived work–family (WF) imbalance. Moreover, this study examines whether humble leadership moderates the relationship between HIWP and WF imbalance.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a time-lagged survey approach, data are collected from 200 employees working in the Indian services sector organizations.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that HIWP has a direct negative effect on burnout and an indirect effect via WF imbalance. Also, humble leadership moderates the relationship between HIWP and WF imbalance.
Originality/value
By studying the pessimistic view of HIWP in the Indian context, this study contributes to the scant studies available on its effect on burnout in collectivistic societies. Furthermore, humble leadership's moderating role in the relationship between HIWP and WF imbalance is unique to this study.
... These topics include humble leadership, leader humility, leadership, and servant leadership. Humility and leadership are examined related to the benefits provided by humble leadership to employees, such as generating trust, loyalty, learning, employee empowerment, and a supportive work context, that humble leadership has an impact on organizational outcomes such as employee retention and financial performance (Brunzel &;Ebsen, 2022;Nielsen & Marrone, 2018;Owens et al., 2011;Wang et al., 2021). Owens et al. (2013) Began introducing the term leader humility to answer the challenges researchers related to humility with leadership in the context of organizations. ...
... Owens et al. (2013) Began introducing the term leader humility to answer the challenges researchers related to humility with leadership in the context of organizations. Leader humility is defined as a leader who can be able to assess himself accurately, able to appreciate the strengths, shortcomings, and contributions of members, and the ability to be taught lessons (Wang et al., 2021). Leader humility deals with servant leadership and satisfaction with leaders (Krumrei-Mancuso &;Rowatt, 2023). ...
Humility makes people to have attachments and increases empathy. People with humility would be open and consider the opinions and beliefs of others. This study aims to identify and analyze the research trend of humility in one decade. This study used literature review with a bibliometric approach. SCOPUS was used as the database for this study and used humility as the main keyword. The analyses used VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel. The bibliometric analysis included document type, authorship, institution, subject area, growth trend, and future research directions. The 6 clusters explained that humility is discussed in various fields such as individual characteristics, personality, culture, religiosity and spirituality, and leadership or organization. For future research, it is expected that researchers can discuss humility related to the topics mentioned in the discussion section.
... Theoretical and empirical research on humility has rapidly expanded over the past decade, including a growing body of research with religious leaders (e.g., Jankowski et al., 2021) as well as leaders in faith-based organizations (e.g., Wang et al., 2020) from various cultures and religions. In the present study, we followed this emerging research on religious leaders by defining humility as multidimensional and as consisting of (a) a willingness to engage in accurate self-understanding, (b) an appreciation for the strengths of others, and (c) a teachable other-orientation receptive to inputs of others (Owens et al., 2013). ...
In 2017, the Association of Theological Schools sponsored the Preparing for 2040 Initiative to help theological schools and seminaries respond to the growing diversity in faith communities. Seminary faculty play a crucial role in shaping and training future religious and spiritual leaders, who in turn act as pastoral helping professionals in their communities. Therefore, it is germane to understand the diversity and justice commitments and goals of the educators that shape and influence pastoral leaders in local communities. Little has been studied, however, about the diversity and justice commitments of these pastoral leaders’ instructors. To address this gap, we tested a model of relational spirituality and mature alterity previously used in prior studies with seminary students. Faculty and staff (N = 303) from seminaries accredited by the Association of Theological Schools across the United States and Canada were invited to participate. Participants completed measures of dispositional humility and compassion, social justice commitment, commitment to intercultural competence, respect for religious diversity, purpose beyond the self, and spiritual impression management. Results based on a series of hierarchical regression models showed both humility and compassion were significantly positively related to (a) social justice commitment, (b) commitment to intercultural competence, and (c) purpose beyond the self over and above the effect of spiritual impression management. Compassion was also positively related to respect for religious diversity. Implications are discussed for future research, faculty development, and theological education in these areas.
... Rather than understanding that the trauma (i.e., natural disaster) was an act of nature outside one's control, an individual may resist viewing the disaster through a self-compassionate lens: unable to reduce selfjudgment, isolation, and the rumination of negative thoughts and feelings [18]. Altogether, these tendencies are a barrier to adaptive cognitive processing of the traumatic event and hinder accurate self-appraisal-a disposition salient to successfully navigating natural disasters [35]. Subsequently, a person may be unable to display self-compassion and continue to blame oneself for the incident, believing that one's actions played a role in the natural disaster. ...
The psychological impact of a traumatic event includes potentially both negative (e.g., PTSD, depression, and anxiety) as well as positive (e.g., post-traumatic growth) outcomes. The construct of self-compassion—the capacity to be compassionate towards oneself—has been associated with various psychological benefits following disasters; however, the association between self-compassion and PTG have not yet been examined in natural disaster settings. This study aimed to examine the relationship between these constructs, with self-compassion as a potential mediator in this relationship. Three hundred and nine undergraduate students affected by the impact of Hurricane Harvey were recruited. Statistical analyses revealed a significant mediation effect, with PTSD symptoms being both directly and indirectly (via self-compassion) associated with PTG. The capacity to grow from traumatic experiences is mediated by one’s disposition to be compassionate towards oneself, serving as a resilience factor to provide individuals with the cognitive and emotional resources to grow after trauma. These findings have significant implications in both clinical and research contexts, including the use of self-compassion interventions to protect against PTSD and other comorbid psychopathology and also act as a catalyst for growth following natural disaster events.
Introduction
Existing research shows positive associations between humility and well-being, and between civic engagement and well-being. Rarely have humility, civic engagement, and well-being been examined together. We build off of previous cross-sectional findings and a prior longitudinal study that used three waves of data and found significant positive bivariate correlations between humility and the presence of life purpose across time points.
Methods
Extending these previous findings, we used six waves of data obtained from graduate students at 18 seminaries across North America (N = 574; Mage = 31.54; 46.7% female; 65.3% White) to explore the dynamic associations among humility and life purpose, along with horizontal transcendence (an indicator of the attitudinal dimension of civic engagement) and social justice activism (an indicator for the behavioral dimension). We explored reciprocal short-run processes and dynamic long-run effects using a general cross-lagged panel model.
Results and discussion
We found robust evidence for a reciprocal influence between the presence of life purpose and horizontal transcendence, and long-run effects for initial levels of life purpose to influence later levels of horizontal transcendence. We also found long-run effects for the influence of initial levels of life purpose on later levels of humility, and initial levels of social justice activism on later levels of horizontal transcendence. Implications center on the use of the findings for planning future one-time life purpose and social justice interventions to affect changes in humility and horizontal transcendence.
Objective
Leader humility has been linked to many positive outcomes but not examined in humanitarian aid work. Three studies examined the multilevel correlates, contributions, and consequences of leader humility in Medair—a large, multinational, faith-based aid organization. Study 1 examined correlates of leader humility in a sample of 308 workers and 167 leaders. Study 2 explored multilevel contributions of leader humility in 96 teams comprised of 189 workers. Study 3 utilized a subsample (50 workers, 34 leaders) to explore consequences of Time 1 leader and team humility on outcomes 6 months later.
Method
Participants completed measures of humility (general, relational, team), leader and team attributions (e.g., effectiveness, cohesion, and growth-mindedness), organizational outcomes (e.g., job engagement and satisfaction; worker and team performance), and psychological outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, compassion satisfaction, and flourishing).
Results
Leader and team humility contributed to multilevel positive attributions about leaders (as effective and impactful), teams (as cohesive, psychologically safe, and growth-minded), and oneself (as humble), and those attributions contributed to organizational and psychological outcomes. Teams’ shared attributions of their leader’s humility contributed to higher worker job satisfaction and team performance. Longitudinally, for workers and leaders, leader and team humility were associated with some positive organizational and psychological outcomes over time.
Conclusion
In humanitarian organizations, leader humility seems to act as an attributional and motivational social contagion that affects aid personnel’s positive attributions about their leaders, teams, and themselves. In turn, these multilevel positive attributions contribute to several positive team, organizational, and psychological outcomes among workers and leaders.
Power is an all-pervasive, and fundamental force in human relationships and plays a valuable role in social, political, and economic interactions. Power differences are important in social groups in enhancing group functioning. Most people want to have power and there are many benefits to having power. However, power is a corrupting force and this has been a topic of interest for centuries to scholars from Plato to Lord Acton. Even with increased knowledge of power's corrupting effect and safeguards put in place to counteract such tendencies, power abuse remains rampant in society suggesting that the full extent of this effect is not well understood. In this paper, an effort is made to improve understanding of power's corrupting effects on human behavior through an integrated and comprehensive synthesis of the neurological, sociological, physiological, and psychological literature on power. The structural limits of justice systems' capability to hold powerful people accountable are also discussed.
How are Western journalists who are killed in the course of their work remembered? Using the biographies of journalists killed covering conflict, this article investigates the discursive repertoires through which the memorialization of journalists killed while reporting conflict is accomplished. The authors argue that such journalists are consistently constructed as humanitarian, cosmopolitan witnesses engaged in supererogatory moral projects involving justice and voice for those outside of these journalists’ geopolitical home communities. This particular articulation appears to herald a recent shift in the memorialization of the journalistic dead, although it is continuous with longer discourses in fields such as photojournalism and its idea of the ‘concerned photographer’. We speculate that this shift is consistent with material changes in the field – in particular, the precaritization of conflict reporting driving journalists into the material and social world of professional humanitarianism, whose discourses around the moral worth and cosmopolitan nature of the work have colonized the subfield of conflict reporting.
Prior research on the religiousness/spirituality—well-being association has largely neglected the dimension of religious/spiritual exploration, and the recent trend examining virtues, religiousness/spirituality, and well-being has predominantly involved cross-sectional data. We expanded prior research by analyzing a longitudinal model consisting of three waves of data, approximately 6 months between waves, that explored the associations between experiential avoidance, humility, patience, religious/spiritual exploration, and distinct dimensions of well-being. We used joy as an indicator of the positive emotion dimension of subjective well-being, and presence of meaning in life as an indicator of eudaimonic well-being. We used a diverse sample of emerging religious leaders attending 18 graduate theological schools across North America (N = 283; Mage = 29.81; SD = 0.51; range = 19–62; 47.7% female; 61.8% White). We observed a negative influence for initial levels of exploration on later joy and meaning in life, when initial levels of experiential avoidance were high and humility was low. In contrast, we found a positive influence for initial levels of exploration on later joy and meaning in life, when initial levels of experiential avoidance remained high and humility was high. Initial levels of patience exhibited a positive influence on meaning in life 1 year later, indirectly via greater levels of exploration at time 2. Practical implications centered on providing opportunities for individuals to explore alternative beliefs, practices and experiences, and encouraging engagement in humility and patience self-cultivation practices, each of which could move them toward greater well-being.
Purpose:
This study serves two purposes: first, it analyzes the effects of the overall perception of justice in service industry organizations on their employees’ innovative behavior; second, it investigates whether leader humility moderates the relationship between the aforementioned constructs.
Design/methodology/approach:
This study is quantitative in nature. A cross-sectional survey method was used to collect data from 359 respondents, and a PROCESS macro for SPSS was used for the moderation analysis.
Findings:
The results show that employees who perceive fairness within their organization will reciprocate with innovativeness and that humility is a positive factor that increases innovative behaviors.
Originality/value:
Few studies have addressed the effect of the overall perception of justice on individuals’ innovative behavior in service industries in developing economies and collectivist cultures. There is also a lack of empirical support regarding the role of leader humility in employees’ innovative behavior. This study provides new insights into service employees’ innovative behavior in a collectivist society and has implications for managers working in the services sector.
Although the effectiveness of leader humility has been well documented, our understanding of how leader humility influences followers psychologically is limited. Surpassing a mere leader‐centric understanding of the leader influence process by more fully understanding how leadership behavior shapes followers psychologically has been identified as a critical need by leadership scholars. Drawing on self‐expansion theory, we argue that leader humility triggers followers’ self‐expansion and that this psychological change enhances followers’ self‐efficacy, which in turn contributes to followers’ task performance. We also argue that the relationship between leader humility and followers’ self‐expansion is strengthened when leaders and followers are similar in age and gender. Using a time‐lagged research design with responses from 256 leader‐follower dyads, we found support for our proposed model. We discuss the theoretical implications for our findings and suggest areas for future research.
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In this article, the authors further develop the theory of leader humility by exploring the affective impact, a vital boundary condition, and the antecedents of leader humility. Specifically, they (a) theorize how leader humility can enhance followers’ performance by increasing their relational energy and decreasing their emotional exhaustion, (b) test perceived leader power in the organization as an important boundary condition of leader humility effectiveness, and (c) establish leader’s incremental theory of the self (i.e., growth mindset) and relational identity as important enablers of leader humility. Surveying 211 leader–follower dyads in a two-phase study (Study 1), we find that leader humility has a positive indirect effect on followers’ task performance through increased follower relational energy and decreased emotional exhaustion. In addition, the effects of leader humility on followers’ relational energy with the leader, emotional exhaustion, and task performance tend to be stronger when followers perceive more power in the leader. Study 2—a multiphase field study surveying 201 leader–follower dyads embedded in 85 teams—not only replicates the results found in Study 1 with more objective, multirater employee performance, but more importantly, establishes leader incremental theory of the self (or growth mindset; Dweck, 2010) and relational identity as important antecedents of leader humility. The authors discuss theoretical and practical implications and recommend directions for future research.
In this study, we identify leader humility, characterized by being open to admitting one’s limitations, shortcomings, and mistakes, and showing appreciation and giving credit to followers, as a critical leader characteristic relevant for team creativity. Integrating the literatures on creativity and leadership, we explore the relationship between leader humility and team creativity, treating team psychological safety and team information sharing as mediators. Further, we hypothesize and examine team power distance as a moderator of the relationship. We tested our hypotheses using data gathered from 72 work teams and 354 individual members from 11 information and technology firms in China using a multiple-source, time-lagged research design. We found that the positive relationship between leader humility and team information sharing was significant and positive only within teams with a low power distance value. In addition, leader humility was negatively related to team psychological safety in teams with a high power distance value, whereas the relationship was positive yet nonsignificant in teams with low power distance. Furthermore, team information sharing and psychological safety were both significantly related to team creativity. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for leadership and work teams.
We call on humanitarian aid organizations to integrate proven mental health strategies to protect the
mental health of their workforce and improve staff capacity to provide care for vulnerable populations.
Such strategies could include:
� Pre-deployment training � Art therapy
� Team building � Physical exercise
� Mindfulness or contemplative techniques � Mind-body exercises
� NarrativeExposureTherapy � Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
The paradox of the wounded healer—the one called to look after their own wounds while at the same time remaining prepared to heal the wounds of others—is a metaphor rich in biblical allusion, providing a profound entry point for those interested in contemplating the person and work of Christ (Nouwen, 1979). It is also a metaphor that captures the experience of many mental health professionals as they journey empathically alongside their clients. Figley (1995) was among the first to highlight what he described as the cost to caring—how mental health professionals (especially those who work extensively with survivors of trauma) who empathically listen to their clients’ stories of fear, pain, and suffering often find themselves feeling similar fear, pain, and suffering. In this paper, we review the literature on secondary trauma and vicarious trauma, drawing implications from the latest research on both faith and clinical practice.
Forty-nine infants and toddlers were killed and 93 others were injured in the ABC Daycare Center Fire disaster in Hermosillo, Mexico. This study describes the experiences of ten mental health professionals that researched the community scale grief and provided clinical services to the parents and caregivers of the affected children. A concurrent triangulation mixed methods approach was used to quantitatively measure and qualitatively understand the secondary traumatic stress (STS) of the responding professionals. Results indicated that experiences of STS decreased with time and debriefing, however the responding professionals that were more directly connected to the trauma and those that worked with parents who lost their children displayed an enduring impact of STS. Coping strategies and gender expectations are considered in a discussion of debriefing in a specific cultural context of Northwestern Mexico.
As a bottom-up leadership style, humble leadership has attracted increasing attention from scholars in recent years. But its effectiveness and mechanism still lack rigorous empirical study. In this study, we investigate the mechanism and boundary condition by which humble leader behavior exerts influence on followers’ turnover intention. Two-wave data collected from 249 scientific and technological personnel in China supported our hypothesized model. We found that humble leader behavior is significantly negatively related to follower turnover intention. The relationship is further partially mediated by organizational identification, and moderated by leader expertise. Implications for theory, practice and future research are discussed.
We assess the perceived impact of leaders’ humility (both self and other-reported) on team effectiveness, and how this relationship is mediated by balanced processing of information. Ninety-six leaders (plus 307 subordinates, 96 supervisors, and 656 peers of those leaders) participate in the study. The findings suggest that humility in leaders (as reported by others/peers) is indirectly (i.e., through balanced processing) related to leaders’ perceived impact on team effectiveness. The study also corroborates literature pointing out the benefits of using other-reports (rather than self-reports) to measure humility, and suggests adding humility to the authentic leadership research agenda.
We propose a mediation model to explain the relationship between CEO humility and firm performance. Building on upper echelons, power, and paradox theories, we hypothesize that when a more humble CEO leads a firm, its top management team (TMT) is more likely to collaborate, share information, jointly make decisions, and possess a shared vision. The firm will also tend to have lower pay disparity between the CEO and the TMT. The humble CEO and TMT, in turn, will be more likely to adopt an ambidextrous strategic orientation, which will be associated with stronger firm performance. We tested the model by using both survey and archival data that were collected at multiple time points from 105 small-to-medium-sized firms in the computer software and hardware industry in the United States. Findings largely support our theoretical assertions, suggesting that CEO humility has important implications for firm processes and outcomes.
In this article, we examine the concept of humility among chief executive officers (CEOs) and the process through which it is connected to integration in the top management team (TMT) and middle managers' responses. We develop and validate a comprehensive measure of humility using multiple samples and then test a multilevel model of how CEOs' humility links to the processes of top and middle managers. Our methodology involves survey data gathered twice from 328 TMT members and 645 middle managers in 63 private companies in China. We find CEO humility to be positively associated with empowering leadership behaviors, which in turn correlates with TMT integration. TMT integration then positively relates to middle managers' perception of having an empowering organizational climate, which is then associated with their work engagement, affective commitment, and job performance. Findings confirm our hypotheses based on social information processing theory: humble CEOs connect to top and middle managers through collective perceptions of empowerment at both levels. Qualitative data from interviews with 51 CEOs provide additional insight into the meaning of humility among CEOs and differences between those with high and low humility.
In response to recent calls to theorize and examine how multiple leader characteristics may work together in their effects, the current research examines how leader narcissism and humility interact to predict perceived leader effectiveness and follower (i.e., direct-report) job engagement and performance. Although an examination of leaders who are narcissistic yet humble may seem oxymoronic and even paradoxical, researchers have suggested that seemingly contradictory personal attributes may exist simultaneously and may actually work together to produce positive outcomes. Results from survey data from followers and leaders working for a large health insurance organization showed that the interaction of leader narcissism and leader humility is associated with perceptions of leader effectiveness, follower job engagement, and subjective and objective follower job performance. Together, these results suggest that narcissistic leaders can have positive effects on followers when their narcissism is tempered by humility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Although a growing number of leadership writers argue leader humility is important
to organizational effectiveness, little is known about the construct, why some leaders
behave more humbly than others, what these behaviors lead to, or what factors
moderate the effectiveness of these behaviors. Drawing from 55 in-depth interviews
with leaders from a wide variety of contexts, we develop a model of the behaviors,
outcomes, and contingencies of humble leadership. We uncover that leader humility
involves leaders modeling to followers how to grow and produces positive organizational
outcomes by leading followers to believe that their own developmental journeys
and feelings of uncertainty are legitimate in the workplace. We discuss how the
emergent humility in leadership model informs a broad range of leadership issues,
including organizational development and change, the evolution of leader-follower
relationships, new pathways for engaging followers, and integrating top-down and
bottom-up organizing.
Five studies tested the hypothesis that a quiet ego, as exemplified by humility, would buffer death anxiety. Humility is characterized by a willingness to accept the self and life without comforting illusions, and by low levels of self-focus. As a consequence, it was expected to render mortality thoughts less threatening and less likely to evoke potentially destructive behavior patterns. In line with this reasoning, Study 1 found that people high in humility do not engage in self-serving moral disengagement following mortality reminders, whereas people low in humility do. Study 2 showed that only people low in humility respond to death reminders with increased fear of death, and established that this effect was driven uniquely by humility and not by some other related personality trait. In Study 3, a low sense of psychological entitlement decreased cultural worldview defense in response to death thoughts, whereas a high sense of entitlement tended to increase it. Study 4 demonstrated that priming humility reduces self-reported death anxiety relative to both a baseline and a pride priming condition. Finally, in Study 5, experimentally induced feelings of humility prevented mortality reminders from leading to depleted self-control. As a whole, these findings obtained from relatively diverse Internet samples illustrate that the dark side of death anxiety is brought about by a noisy ego only and not by a quiet ego, revealing self-transcendence as a sturdier, healthier anxiety buffer than self-enhancement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
There is a paucity of research into the subjective experiences of humanitarian aid personnel exposed to modern global conflicts and disasters in the course of their work. In particular, little is known about how they make sense of any dual threat: (1) witnessing catastrophic and traumatic events perpetrated on those they seek to serve and (2) experiencing personal threat to self. This phenomenological study explores the idiographic interpretation of aid personnel working in complex humanitarian settings including exposure to genocide, and the impact of such exposure on reintegration processes postmission. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). One theme: Complex humanitarian distress and growth overarched five subordinate themes. Four of the subordinate themes highlighted long term psychological distress including shame, moral doubt, betrayal, and narcissistic coping. The fifth theme, Reparation with ‘self’, describes a redefining of self-worth and altruistic identity over time despite earlier perceived moral failure and sense of rejection from organization and important others. Reparation with self, as a positive outcome from traumatic distress and lack of validating support from important others, is discussed in light of current posttraumatic growth literature. Implications for therapists and recruiting organizations are also discussed.
In the organizational learning literature a variety of concepts exists denoting some third order of organizational learning, notably that of ‘triple-loop’ learning. Despite this there has been no systematic, critical consideration of this concept or its origins, impeding both theoretical development and empirical research. Whilst ‘triple-loop learning’ has been inspired by Argyris and Schön, we establish that the term does not arise in their published work. Indeed, we argue that conceptualizations of triple-loop learning are diverse, often have little theoretical rooting, are sometimes driven by normative considerations, and lack support from empirical research. We map the major influences on these conceptualizations, including Bateson’s framework of levels of learning, and offer an original theoretical contribution that distinguishes between three conceptualizations of ‘triple-loop learning’. We also highlight implications for practice, and caution against the uncritical preference for ‘higher levels’ of learning that is sometimes discernible in the literature and in practice.
The organizational learning literature distinguishes different levels of learning (zero learning and single, double and triple loop learning) in order to understand the complexity and dynamics of changes in policies, objectives, mental maps, and structures and strategies for learning. This article explores the case of an emerging new organizational design, the circular organization, in order to understand the role of triple loop learning. The circular model was developed on the basis of ideas about the relationship between organizational structure and behavior taken from theories of dynamic systems. Circular design precepts appear to provide a structural facilitation of single and double loop learning. In this respect, the circular design tends to act as a facilitating infrastructure for triple loop learning, that is, exploring the structural opportunities and key competences people need to participate in making well-informed choices about policies, objectives and other issues.
Humility is an understudied virtue in positive psychology. Both conceptual and methodological challenges have retarded its study. In this article, we discuss how humility has been defined. Specifically, researchers disagree whether humility refers to the accuracy of an individual's view of self, or whether humility primarily describes someone's interpersonal stance toward others. We critique four approaches that researchers have used to measure humility: self-reports, implicit measures, social comparisons of self to others, and informant ratings of humility. We then theoretically elaborate on the later method, which has been mostly overlooked. Accordingly, we present a model of relational humility. We define humility as a relationship-specific personality judgment, and we describe the relationship factors that affect how humility is perceived [Funder, D.C. (199515.
Funder , DC . 1995 . On the accuracy of personality judgment: A realistic approach . Psychological Review , 102 : 652 – 670 . [CrossRef], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [CSA]View all references). On the accuracy of personality judgment: A realistic approach. Psychological Review, 102, 652–670.]. Finally, we provide next steps for researchers using a relational approach.
Groups with a strong sense of collective efficacy set more challenging goals, persist in the face of difficulty, and are ultimately more likely to succeed than groups who do not share this belief. Given the many advantages that may accrue to groups who are confident, it would be logical to advise groups to build a high level of collective efficacy as early as possible. However, we draw on Whyte’s (1998) theory of collective efficacy and groupthink, to predict that when confidence emerges at a high level toward the beginning of a group’s existence, group members may be less likely to engage in process conflict; a form of conflict that may be beneficial in the early phase of a group project. We found support for this prediction in two longitudinal studies of classroom project teams.
Humanitarian relief work is a growing field characterized by ongoing exposure to primary and secondary trauma, which has implications
for workers’ occupational mental health. This paper reviews and summarizes research to date on mental health effects of relief
work. Twelve studies on relief workers and 5 studies on organizations that employ relief workers are examined to determine
whether relief work is a risk factor for trauma-related mental illness. Although studies are inconsistent regarding methods
and outcomes documenting trauma-related mental illness among relief workers, it appears that relief workers, compared with
the general population, experience elevated trauma rates and suffer from more posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and
anxiety. Organizations that employ relief workers have varying approaches to train for these risks, and more support in the
field is needed.
Past research suggests that task conflict may improve team performance under certain conditions; however, we know little about these specific conditions. On the basis of prior theory and research on conflict in teams, we argue that a climate of psychological safety is one specific context under which task conflict will improve team performance. Using evidence from 117 project teams, the present research found that psychological safety climate moderates the relationship between task conflict and performance. Specifically, task conflict and team performance were positively associated under conditions of high psychological safety. The results support the conclusion that psychological safety facilitates the performance benefits of task conflict in teams. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
This review examines recent theoretical and empirical developments in the leadership literature, beginning with topics that are currently receiving attention in terms of research, theory, and practice. We begin by examining authentic leadership and its development, followed by work that takes a cognitive science approach. We then examine new-genre leadership theories, complexity leadership, and leadership that is shared, collective, or distributed. We examine the role of relationships through our review of leader member exchange and the emerging work on followership. Finally, we examine work that has been done on substitutes for leadership, servant leadership, spirituality and leadership, cross-cultural leadership, and e-leadership. This structure has the benefit of creating a future focus as well as providing an interesting way to examine the development of the field. Each section ends with an identification of issues to be addressed in the future, in addition to the overall integration of the literature we provide at the end of the article.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among the participants of the Turkish Red Crescent Disaster Relief Team after the Tsunami in Asia.
The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale-1 (CAPS-1) was administered to 33 of 36 team members one month after their Disaster Relief Team duty. Along with the CAPS-1 interview, demographic features, profession, previous professional experience, previous experience with traumatic events and disasters also were recorded. To be classified as present, a symptom must have a frequency score of "1" and an intensity score of "2" at the CAPS-1 interview. For a diagnosis of PTSD, at least one re-experiencing, three avoidance and numbing, and two increased arousal symptoms should be present.
The PTSD was diagnosed in eight of the 33 (24.2%) participants. No significant difference was detected in the distribution of PTSD diagnosis according to gender, age, profession, professional experience, previous disaster experience, and/or previous experience of traumatic events. However, the severity of PTSD symptoms as measured by the CAPS-1 score was significantly higher in women, nurses, and participants with <3 previous disaster duty experiences.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is prevalent within disaster teams and healthcare workers, and measures should be taken to prevent PTSD within this group.
Today, values hold a prominent place both in business ethics and in organization theory. However, there persists considerable confusion about what these values are and what role they play in these theories and, therefore, how they can be developed both within the individual and within the organization. Therefore, this paper seeks to define a conception of values based on a theory of human action that can provide a basis for an organization theory, and to propose a series of ideas about how personal and organizational values can be fostered.
Almost all theories of knowledge and justified belief employ moral concepts and forms of argument borrowed from moral theories, but none of them pay attention to the current renaissance in virtue ethics. This remarkable book is the first attempt to establish a theory of knowledge based on the model of virtue theory in ethics. The book develops the concept of an intellectual virtue, and then shows how the concept can be used to give an account of the major concepts in epistemology, including the concept of knowledge. This highly original work of philosophy for professionals will also provide students with an excellent introduction to epistemology, virtue theory, and the relationship between ethics and epistemology.
This study explores how humility is contextualized in the culture of faith-based humanitarian aid leadership. Consensual Qualitative Research was used to synthesize the personal and observational experiences of 13 humanitarian aid leader exemplars. Characteristics and behaviors of humble leaders are discussed, along with the benefits of humble leadership on aid workers, local partners, and recipients of humanitarian aid services. A theistic dimension of humility is noted along with an outcome pathway for humble practice which considers barriers native to the humanitarian aid context.
This study utilizes social–cognitive theory, humble leadership theory, and the behavioral ethics literature to theoretically develop the concept of leader moral humility and its effects on followers. Specifically, we propose a theoretical model wherein leader moral humility and follower implicit theories about morality interact to predict follower moral efficacy, which in turn increases follower prosocial behavior and decreases follower unethical behavior. We furthermore suggest that these effects are strongest when followers hold an incremental implicit theory of morality (i.e., believing that one’s morality is malleable). We test and find support for our theoretical model using two multiwave studies with Eastern (Study 1) and Western (Study 2) samples. Furthermore, we demonstrate that leader moral humility predicts follower moral efficacy and moral behaviors above and beyond the effects of ethical leadership and leader general humility.
The UN Security Council meeting on 18 September 2014 represented a major turning-point in the international response to the Ebola outbreak then underway in West Africa. However, in the light of widespread criticism over the tardiness of the international response, it can be argued that the UN, and particularly the Security Council, failed to make best use of a potential resource it already had on the ground in Liberia: the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). This article examines whether UNMIL could have done more to contribute to the emergency response and attempts to draw some lessons from this experience for potential peacekeeper involvement in future public health emergencies. UNMIL could have done more than it did within the terms of its mandate, although it may well have been hampered by factors such as its own capacities, the views of Troop Contributing Countries and the approach taken by the Liberian government. This case can inform broader discussions over the provision of medical and other forms of humanitarian assistance by peacekeeping missions, such as the danger of politicising humanitarian aid and peacekeepers doing more harm than good. Finally, we warn that a reliance on peacekeepers to deliver health services during ‘normal’ times could foster a dangerous culture of dependency, hampering emergency responses if the need arises.
When did you realize you had the right stuff to lead? HBR's editors put that question to a group of business leaders representing different industries, nationalities, executive tenures, and company sizes. The answers were as diverse as the group itself. Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo recounts a lesson in humility, learned when he was a young CFO and it wasn't clear each month that the company would be able to pay salaries the next. Gary Jackson describes the challenge of preserving his military-training company's high-energy culture, largely through his own example. Arthur Gensler's story highlights the importance of vision in growing his architectural firm and refusing to be constrained by the traditions of a hidebound industry. A world away, Alexander Cummings tells the harrowing tale of withstanding quarter after quarter of declining margins and market share-and intense pressure from his boss, and his boss's boss-because he had conviction that a controversial decision he made at Coca-Cola Africa would prove right in the end. Roche CEO Franz Humer recounts how he learned to trust his intuition, particularly when the rest of his organization was inclined to see only the downside risk in a deal. Other leaders' moments of truth involved tests of still different qualities. Duleep Aluwihare of Ernst &Ybung in Poland learned from painful encounters with a mentor in his old firm, Arthur Andersen, that he must change his leadership style. Sergey Petrov, the founder of Russia's largest car importer, developed the perspective required of a leader when he was a young dissident held for questioning by the KGB. Finally, Alan Kiapmeier of private-aircraft manufacturer Cirrus Design tells of the passion required to bring something truly innovative to market despite recalcitrant board members and the catastrophic loss of a prototype.
In this chapter, I introduce the metaphor of a wild ego. There are several ways the term wild could be used, three of which are relevant here. First, a creature that is wild is one that roams free, with no limits, nothing to fence it in. Second, wildness could imply a lack of constancy--a tendency toward instability or rapid fluctuation, of being tough to pin down. Third and finally, being wild could imply being untamed and disconnected from others, having a maverick quality in which autonomy and individuality are prized above all else. In this chapter, I begin by outlining ways each of these three facets of wildness (or, as other authors in this volume describe, "noisiness") might be helpful in understanding problems with the ego. Next, I shift the focus to description of a humble or quiet ego, which I contrast with the wild ego. I conclude the chapter by exploring some challenges that can arise if one tries to tame or humble the ego. Please note that, in keeping with the focus of this volume, the word ego is used here to refer to a broad sense of self, one that encompasses a wide range of self-oriented perceptions and motivations.
Humility is a neglected virtue in the social and psychological sciences. Virtually no empirical research directly has addressed this long-revered construct. In this article, contrasting conceptions of humility are reviewed. Although humility frequently is equated with a sense of unworthiness and low self-regard, theoreticians view true humility as a rich, multifaceted construct that entails an accurate assessment of one's characteristics, an ability to acknowledge limitations, and a "forgetting of the self." Scientific study of the nature and implications of humility is still in its infancy. Work in this area would be greatly enhanced by the development of theoretically informed measures of humility. Closely related constructs (self-esteem, modesty, and narcissism) are discussed, along with future directions for research.
We draw on eight different lab and field samples to delineate the effects of expressed humility on several important organizational outcomes, including performance, satisfaction, learning goal orientation, engagement, and turnover. We first review several literatures to define the construct of expressed humility, discuss its implications in social interactions, and distinguish expressed humility from related constructs. Using five different samples, Study 1 develops and validates an observer-report measure of expressed humility. Study 2 examines the strength of expressed humility predictions of individual performance and contextual performance (i.e., quality of team member contribution) relative to conscientiousness, global self-efficacy, and general mental ability. This study also reveals that with regard to individual performance, expressed humility may compensate for lower general mental ability. Study 3 reports insights from a large field sample that examines the relationship between leader-expressed humility and employee retention as mediated by job satisfaction and employee engagement as mediated by team learning orientation. We conclude with recommendations for future research.
The virtue of humility is often considered to be at odds with common business practice. In recent years, however, scholars within business ethics and leadership have shown an increasing interest in humility. Despite such attention, the argument for the relevance of humility in business could be expanded. Unlike extant research that focuses on humility as a character-building virtue or instrumentally useful leadership trait, this article argues that humility reflects the interdependent nature of business. Through such an approach, the article gives an extrinsic motivation of the relevance of humility in business, and, from a theoretical point of view, links the intra-personal and intra-organizational perspective on humility to an inter-organizational one. The article contextualizes the virtue of humility by relating it to the economic, cognitive, and moral aspects of business practice and managerial work. It claims that the assumption of self-sufficiency in business is a grave misrepresentation of what business is—a practice characterized by interdependency. Potential links between virtue ethics, leadership, and contextually oriented theories of business, such as stakeholder theory, network theories, and resource dependence theory, are also identified.
Recent thinking about top management has been influenced by alternative models of man.1 Economic approaches to governance such as agency theory tend to assume some form of homo-economicus, which depict subordinates as individualistic, opportunistic, and self-serving. Alternatively, sociological and psychological approaches to governance such as stewardship theory depict subordinates as collectivists, pro-organizational, and trustworthy. Through this research, we attempt to reconcile the differences between these assumptions by proposing a model based upon the subordinate's psychological attributes and the organization's situational characteristics.
Servant leadership is positioned as a new field of research for leadership scholars. This review deals with the historical background of servant leadership, its key characteristics, the available measurement tools, and the results of relevant studies that have been conducted so far. An overall conceptual model of servant leadership is presented. It is argued that leaders who combine their motivation to lead with a need to serve display servant leadership. Personal characteristics and culture are positioned alongside the motivational dimension. Servant leadership is demonstrated by empowering and developing people; by expressing humility, authenticity, interpersonal acceptance, and stewardship; and by providing direction. A high-quality dyadic relationship, trust, and fairness are expected to be the most important mediating processes to encourage self-actualization, positive job attitudes, performance, and a stronger organizational focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
This theoretical piece advances humility’s role in socialized charismatic leadership by considering humility’s impact on the behaviors and effectiveness of this type of leadership. First, the authors propose humility as an important but overlooked antecedent to effective socialized charismatic leadership. As described primarily in extant personality and social psychology literatures, humility prevents excessive self-focus and allows for an understanding of oneself, in addition to perspective of one’s relationship with others. Second, the effects of humility on the display and effectiveness of three key socialized charismatic leader behaviors are considered. Theoretical contributions and future research directions are discussed.
As noted by McGill and Slocum (1998), effective leadership tends to operate as a contingency theory. The romanticized notion of celebrity CEOs that has been lionized in the popular business press has its place in the leadership pantheon, but, like any other approach to leadership, has limitations in its application. In particular, as discussed by Collins (2001a), sustained organizational functioning is more likely to be the result of the celebrity’s antithesis, a person possessing a blend of humility and strong personal will. This article draws from a diversity of sources in order to explore this potential nexus between humility and leadership. It offers a precise conceptualization of the concept of humility, identifies traits that are predictors of humility as well as the specific leadership behaviors that are likely to be the outcomes of high levels of humility.
Agency theory argues that shareholder interests require protection by separation of incumbency of rôles of board chair and CEO. Stewardship theory argues shareholder interests are maximised by shared incumbency of these rôles. Results of an empirical test fail to support agency theory and provide some support for stewardship theory.
The importance of virtuousness in organizations has recently been acknowledged in the organizational sciences, but research remains scarce. This article defines virtuousness and connects it to scholarly literature in organizational science. An empirical study is described in which the relationships between virtuousness and performance in 18 organizations are empirically examined. Significant relationships between virtuousness and both perceived and objective measures of organizational performance were found. The findings are explained in terms of the two major functions played by virtuousness in organizations: an amplifying function that creates self-reinforcing positive spirals, and a buffering function that strengthens and protects organizations from traumas such as downsizing.
International relief and development personnel may be directly or indirectly exposed to traumatic events that put them at risk for developing symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In order to identify areas of risk and related reactions, surveys were administered to 113 recently returned staff from 5 humanitarian aid agencies. Respondents reported high rates of direct and indirect exposure to life-threatening events. Approximately 30% of those surveyed reported significant symptoms of PTSD. Multiple regression analysis revealed that personal and vicarious exposure to life-threatening events and an interaction between social support and exposure to life threat accounted for a significant amount of variance in PTSD severity. These results suggest the need for personnel programs; predeployment training, risk assessment, and contingency planning may better prepare personnel for service.
With the demise of Andersen, LLP and new legislation that puts an end to self-governance in public accounting, the effectiveness
of current models of accounting ethics have been seriously called into question. We argue that the profession suffers from
fundamental limitations in its ethical framework that makes it impossible to effectively address ongoing ethical problems.
The dominant representation of professional behavior is an agency model of ethics, in which the ultimate responsibility for
identifying and dealing with ethical dilemmas resides with the individual. We argue that structural forces such as control
over resources, meaning systems, and community norms and values also have a strong influence on the actions of accountants
and that these must also be considered. The recent legitimation crisis has forced the accounting profession and its constituencies
to begin to recognize and address the structural aspects of ethics as they enable and constrain action. We propose a framework
based on structuration theory and learning theory that allows for systematic, multi-level investigation of the structural
forces that cause ethical dilemmas to arise and to be recognized and that influence the manner in which they are analyzed
and resolved. This framework should be capable of continual critique and reconfiguration as environmental conditions change.
Adequate responses to disasters and emergency situations rely, among other factors, on coping abilities in disaster workers and emergency personnel. In this study, different aspects of disaster-related stressors and training/experience were investigated in Norwegian personnel (n = 581) mobilised for the 2004 tsunami disaster. The level of stress reactions, measured nine to ten months after the tsunami, was relatively low in this sample, indicating that the personnel coped well with the challenges of the disaster. The level of intrusive memories was higher in disaster-area personnel (n = 335) than in home-base personnel (n = 246). Stress reactions were significantly associated with witnessing experiences (disaster-area group) and with having to reject victims in need of help (both groups). Specific preparation for the mission was associated with a lower level of stress reactions in disaster-area personnel. Such factors may be considered in training and preparation programmes for disaster workers.
Although emergency relief workers are at considerable physical and psychological risk, their mental health has been studied little. Procedures for recruitment selection, training, field support, and follow up of relief workers vary widely. Preventive mental health measures for relief workers receive little attention. Discounting the effects of psychological trauma on workers reflects disregard for their wellbeing and that of the populations they seek to serve. Relief organisations should develop a coordinated and cooperative approach to training and managing field workers.
Human rights workers in humanitarian relief settings may be exposed to traumatic events that put them at risk for psychiatric morbidity. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in June 2000 to study the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among 70 expatriate and Kosovar Albanian staff collecting human nights data in Kosovo. Among those surveyed, elevated levels of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were found in 17.1, 8.6, and 7.1% respectively. Multiple regression analysis revealed that human rights workers at risk for elevated anxiety symptoms were those who had worked with their organization longer than 6 months, those who had experienced an armed attack, and those who experienced local hostility. Our study indicates that human rights organizations should consider mental health assessment, care, and prevention programs for their staff.
The mental health consequences of exposure to traumatic events and the risk factors for psychological morbidity among expatriate and Kosovar Albanian humanitarian aid workers have not been well studied. In June 2000, we used standardised screening tools to survey 285 (69.5%) of 410 expatriate aid workers and 325 (75.8%) of 429 Kosovar Albanian aid workers from 22 humanitarian organizations that were implementing health programmes in Kosovo. The mean number of trauma events experienced by expatriates was 2.8 (standard deviation: 2.7) and by Kosovar staff 3.2 (standard deviation: 2.8). Although only 1.1% of expatriate and 6.2% of Kosovar aid workers reported symptoms consistent with the diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder, 17.2% and 16.9%, respectively, reported symptoms satisfying the definition of depression. Regression analysis demonstrated that the number of trauma events experienced was significantly associated with depression for the two sets of workers. Organisational support services may be an important mediating factor and should be targeted at both groups.
Mental health and aid workers: the case for collaborative questioning
- Ditzler T.