PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine how leader personality traits and cognitive abilities influence perceptions of inspirational communication and organizational proactivity during a crisis. Design/methodology/approachA quasi-natural experiment design with multi-source data was used. The crisis condition included N = 217 frontline leaders, their managers (N = 217) and N = 1,112 followers. Non-crisis condition included N = 151 leaders, their managers (N = 151) and N = 753 followers. Leaders completed self-report measures of reward interest, change consideration and attentional focusing. Followers rated inspirational communication, and managers rated organizational proactivity. FindingsDuring the crisis, leader reward interest and change consideration positively associated with follower perceptions of inspirational communication, which in turn predicted manager-rated organizational proactivity. Attentional focusing moderated this relationship such that low attentional focusing strengthened the link between inspirational communication and organizational proactivity. These effects were not observed in the non-crisis condition. Findings suggest that specific combinations of leader traits and abilities are more influential during crises, highlighting the importance of novelty-seeking, solution-focused thinking and cognitive flexibility in shaping effective leadership behaviors under conditions of uncertainty and disruption. Practical implicationsLeaders who are curious, open to change and can maintain broad situational awareness will inspire their teams and act proactively. Organizations could assess these traits when selecting or training frontline leaders. Originality/valueAn interdisciplinary approach to crisis leadership by integrating reinforcement sensitivity, wisdom and attentional control theory is used. This combines neurobiological, cognitive and wisdom-based perspectives to understand how personality and cognitive traits shape leadership effectiveness under uncertainty.
PurposeEmpirical studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between authentic leadership and follower outcomes, creating challenges for developing effective management strategies. To address this issue, the present study investigates the effects of authentic leadership on employees' attitudinal, behavioral, and relational perception outcomes, while also examining the moderating roles of power distance, individualism–collectivism, and gender. Design/methodology/approachFollowing the PRISMA guidelines, a meta-analysis was conducted based on a systematic review of 115 empirical studies involving healthcare employees (N = 44,078). Effect sizes were synthesized using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software. FindingsThe results indicate that among various outcomes, authentic leadership exerts the strongest influence on relational perception, particularly trust in the manager, followed by voice behavior, structural empowerment, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), job satisfaction, job performance, work engagement, psychological capital, and organizational commitment. In addition, authentic leadership significantly reduces workplace bullying, turnover intention, and burnout. Power distance, individualism/collectivism, and gender are found to significantly moderate some of these relationships. Originality/valueThis study advances the understanding of how authentic leadership shapes follower outcomes in the healthcare sector and offers important theoretical and practical implications for leadership research and practice in this context.
PurposeThis study systematically reviews the impact of authentic leadership on organizational innovation, focusing on its conceptualization, effects and underlying mechanisms. It addresses research gaps by exploring intercorrelations and contextual variations, guiding future studies and practical strategies to enhance innovation in organizational settings. Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a systematic literature review, utilizing the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) protocol for data collection process. The study applies Theory-Context-Characteristic-Method (TCCM) framework to examine the impact of authentic leadership on organizational and employee innovation, based on a comprehensive analysis of 101 empirical studies from 2008 to June 2024. FindingsThis research suggests that authentic leadership has a significant impact on organizational innovation, promoting trust, ethical behavior and transparency. Key mediating factors, such as psychological empowerment and psychological capital, play crucial roles, enabling employees to feel valued and motivated to contribute creatively. Additionally, the effectiveness of authentic leadership is moderated by contextual factors, such as organizational culture and external pressures, which can either enhance or limit its impact. Originality/valueThis paper is among the first to contribute to authentic leadership and innovation literature by detailing how authentic leadership impacts innovation, focusing on boundary conditions and mediators and providing insights for scholars and practitioners. Organizations and managers can enhance innovation by encouraging leaders to be genuine, transparent and ethical, thereby building a culture of creative thinking that leads to more effective problem-solving and the development of innovative solutions.
PurposeTo better understand the role power distance plays when embedding corporate sustainability in a large finance organisation, which impacts hundreds of thousands of customers. Design/methodology/approachInterpretive, qualitative, exploratory study where 24 participants from all hierarchical levels within one large Australian finance organisation (directors, managers, frontline staff) were interviewed (semi-structured). These interview transcripts were triangulated with the organisation's corporate reports and field notes. FindingsWhile directors espoused corporate sustainability values where anyone could speak up in their ‘nice’ organisation, subordinates reported a high power distance; this behaviour stopped subordinates asking corporate sustainability questions. Subsequently, the organisation was media-shamed for engaging in greenwashing. Research limitations/implicationsThis study's limitations highlight opportunities for further theoretical and practical contributions. As a single-case design, findings cannot be generalised; however, their depth offers fertile ground for comparative multi-case research across finance and other purported low power-distance contexts. Future studies could examine how normative niceness interacts with structural power in organisations that espouse egalitarian cultures. Conceptually, the study contributes by theorising niceness as a moralised form of normative control that sustains silence and protects dominant financial logic, offering a transferable lens for understanding institutional barriers that inhibit the embedding of corporate sustainability. Practical implicationsPractically, this study illuminates the organisational levers directors and senior leaders can adjust to dismantle high power-distance norms that undermine corporate sustainability. By showing how normative niceness suppresses speaking up, the findings emphasise the need for governance mechanisms that surface undiscussables, including independent sustainability oversight and structured contrarian briefings. The study also contributes practical guidance for redesigning incentive systems to reward authentic upward challenge rather than compliance. Additionally, it highlights the value of establishing cross-level forums that normalise voice, enabling psychologically safe dialogue. Collectively, these insights provide actionable pathways for embedding sustainability as a lived organisational practice. Social implicationsThis study highlights significant social implications arising from high power distance and normative niceness within large finance organisations. When staff self-censor and uncomfortable issues remain undiscussable, risks tied to customers' financial wellbeing go unaddressed, contributing to erosion of public trust in the financial sector. Silencing subordinate voices also perpetuates inequity, as those closest to customers – often frontline staff – are least empowered to influence decisions that affect community outcomes. The persistent dominance of financial logic over corporate sustainability logic ultimately undermines societal efforts to address climate risk, ethical governance and long-term economic resilience, affecting millions who depend on responsible finance. Originality/valueAustralia prides itself as being egalitarian; however, this research found high power distance behaviours. Normative niceness played a role in masking high power distance, which enabled financial logic. As a consequence, corporate sustainability was stymied and subordinates were silenced from raising legitimate corporate sustainability suggestions and concerns.
PurposeThis study synthesises global research on leadership styles and employee engagement using a bibliometric and science-mapping approach. It addresses persistent fragmentation across theoretical lenses, methodologies and regional contexts by examining how the field has evolved, identifying influential contributors, and uncovering dominant themes and research gaps. Design/methodology/approachFollowing the PRISMA protocol, we retrieved 349 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2000 and 2024 from the Scopus database. We conducted performance analysis and science mapping covering co-authorship, co-citation, bibliographic coupling and keyword co-occurrence. We used VOSviewer and bibliometrix (Biblioshiny) to map the intellectual structure, collaboration networks and thematic evolution of leadership style–engagement research. FindingsPublications increased sharply after 2010, with transformational leadership and employee engagement forming the dominant thematic backbone. The maps show strong linkages between leadership styles, motivation, job satisfaction and organisational outcomes, yet they also expose underdeveloped themes around digital and hybrid leadership, cross-generational engagement, and engagement in virtual work settings. The evidence base remains methodologically and geographically imbalanced, relying predominantly on cross-sectional surveys and concentrating research outputs in Western contexts, with comparatively limited contributions from emerging economies. Originality/valueThis article offers a comprehensive bibliometric synthesis of leadership-driven employee engagement research. It contributes (1) methodologically, by providing a transparent PRISMA-based mapping of the field; (2) theoretically, by consolidating key explanatory lenses (e.g. transformational leadership theory and the job demands–resources model) and clarifying how thematic clusters align with these perspectives; and (3) practically/policy-wise, by outlining actionable implications for leadership development and engagement strategies, particularly in digital and hybrid work contexts.
