Humor as Catalyst and Neutralizer of Leadership Effectiveness

Abstract

This study examines the effects of (in)consistent leadership behaviors in promoting (or suppressing) relevant work outcomes for temporary employees such as interns. Specifically, to better understand the drivers of internship effectiveness, we hypothesized that supervisor humor interacts with leadership style, sending implicit messages about the organizational and supervisory relationship, thus shaping interns’ attitudes and behaviors. Using a sample of 164 interns, we empirically examined the moderating effect of humor (affiliative and aggressive) on the relationship between leadership styles (transformational and laissez-faire), attitudes (satisfaction and stress), and behaviors (negligence and job acceptance intentions) using a two-wave research design. Our findings were consistent with the hypotheses, suggesting that humor needs to be tailored to leadership styles to predict interns’ attitudinal and behavioral responses, with different types of humor interacting differently across leadership styles. Implications for further research are discussed.

Imagination as a catalyst for Relational Leadership: Educational leaders’ perspectives.

“…Using these skills, leaders may lead others in an authoritative, managerial, paternalistic, or democratic and transformational way (Tang, 2019). Sobral and Furtado (2019) call these traditional approaches "heroic" in that they are hierarchical and leader-centric with a sense that individual leaders have exemplary traits or skills to make change. These heroic traditions include charismatic, transformational, and visionary leadership (Bass & Riggio, 2006;Blackmore, 2013;Kowalski, 2010;Sobral & Furtado, 2019;Sy et al, 2018).…”

“…These leader-centric ways of theorizing, practicing, and researching leadership do not suit the culturally diverse and rapidly changing circumstances in knowledge societies today (Clarke, 2018;Sobral & Furtado, 2019).…”

“…The "story most often told" in leadership has tended to emphasize individuals in formal positions of hierarchical power, and the traits, skills, and behaviors these individuals can universally employ to be effective (Dugan, 2017, p. xv). Leader-centric-or "heroic" (Sobral & Furtado, 2019)-approaches tend to disregard human connection and the emergent and contextual nature of leadership. Missing from these individualized conceptions of leadership is a concern for all the other people-the relational beings-that actively participate in and shape communities or organizations.…”

The impact of distributed leadership on teacher commitment: The mediation role of teacher workload stress and teacher well‐being

“…Critics of the heroic leadership phenomenon-or assigning leadership roles to a single individual in any organisation or group-have prevailed in many fields, including organisational studies (Eicher, 1997;Manz & Sims, 1991;Sobral & Furtado, 2019), public administration (Andrews, 2016;Terry, 1997) and education (Elmore, 2000;Furman, 2004). This has led to growing research interest in alternative leadership models.…”

Understanding leadership for newly qualified nurses

“…These theories often portray team members as followers who can be moulded into a passive role, thus suggesting that leadership should always take a top-down approach. Post-heroic transformational leadership also suggests that leadership should be concerned with relationships and working in a collective manner where every team member feels empowered (Sobral and Furtado 2019).…”