Evidence-Based Leader Behavior Encyclopedia

Interpersonal Skills | Authenticity

Behavior:

Be uniquely you! When leaders act in line with their values and beliefs, they are more likely to achieve elevated levels of performance and help others accomplish the same.

Citation:
Banks, G. C, McCauley, K/ D., Gardner, W. L., & Guler, C. E. (2016). A meta-analytic review of authentic and transformational leadership: A test for redundancy. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(4), 634–652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.02.006

Self-Leadership | Resiliency

Behavior:

Leaders who get higher quality sleep have more engaged teams. Being better rested allows a leader to better regulate their behaviors during the day and engage more constructively with others. Making more time for more sleep can pay off in a big way.

Citation:
Barnes, C. M., Lucianetti, L., Bhave, D. P., & Christian, M. S. (2015). “You wouldn't like me when I’m sleepy”: Leaders’ sleep, daily abusive supervision, and work unit engagement. Academy of Management Journal, 58(5), 1419-1437. https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2013.1063

Leading Teams and Orgs | Designing Team Structures

Behavior:

Letting team members write their own role descriptions boosts worker productivity and morale – try a job crafting session at the start of your next project team, where you ask each person to design their dream role in that specific team.

Citation:
Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2013). Job crafting and meaningful work. In B. J. Dik, Z. S. Byrne, & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Purpose and meaning in the workplace (p. 81–104). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14183-005

Interpersonal Skills | Strategic Communication

Behavior:

When you encourage team members to stretch themselves beyond their boundaries and think more creatively, this improves the team’s innovative performance. How can you encourage your team to stretch beyond their comfort zone today? Ideas could include engaging in a discussion of long-term goals, affirming team members’ abilities to reach lofty targets, and role modeling stretching out of your comfort zone yourself.

Citation:
Boies, K., Fiset, J,, & Gill, H. (2015). Communication and trust are key: Unlocking the relationship between leadership and team performance and creativity. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(6), 1080–1094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.07.007

Leading Teams and Orgs | Vision Crafting

Behavior:

When communicating a vision to others, use concrete language where there is a good chance each person will imagine the same vision to go with your words.

Citation:
Carton, A. M., Murphy, C., & Clark, J. R. (2014). A (blurry) vision of the future: How leader rhetoric about ultimate goals influences performance. Academy of Management Journal, 57(6), 1544-1570. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0101

Interpersonal Skills | Decision-making

Behavior:

To lead or to be liked? Michigan Ross Professor Charleen Case and colleagues uncovered that leaders who are worried about prestige and how others perceive them often make bad decisions at the expense of the group. Experiment with divorcing your own feelings and ego from decisions and making the best decision for your team.

Citation:
Case, C. R., Bae, K. K., & Maner, J. K. (2018). To lead or to be liked: When prestige-oriented leaders prioritize popularity over performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(4), 657–676. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000138

Leading Teams and Orgs | Diversity

Behavior:

Teams that focus too much on what they have in common can miss out on the value of diversity. Make sure you help your team gain value from diversity by taking the time to regularly discuss individual member areas of expertise and strength.

Citation:
Chatman, J. A., Greer, L. L., Sherman, E., & Doerr, B. (2019). Blurred lines: How the collectivism norm operates through perceived group diversity to boost or harm group performance in Himalayan mountain climbing. Organization Science, 30(2), 235-259. https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.2018.1268

Interpersonal Skills, Leading Teams | Creativity, Feedback, Strategic Communication

Behavior:

Try building in more 2-way constructive feedback with your team. This type of feedback can increase perceptions of ethical leadership & foster creativity. Test out being honest & constructive and welcoming feedback in return.

Citation:
Chen, A., & Hou, Y. (2016). The effects of ethical leadership, voice behavior and climates for innovation on creativity: A moderated mediation examination. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.10.007

Self-Leadership | Empowerment

Behavior:

Empowering leadership enhances followers’ self-efficacy and performance. Empower your teammates daily by listening intently, providing room to grow, verbalizing your belief in them, and praising efforts.

Citation:
Cheong, M., Spain, S. M., Yammarino, F. J., & Yun, S. (2016). Two faces of empowering leadership: Enabling and burdening. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(4), 602–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.01.006

Self-Leadership | Collectivity

Behavior:

Leaders are seen as more authentic when they are true to the collective identity of the group that they lead. Champion your team’s collective interests and goals.

Citation:
Chiniara, M., & Bentein, K. (2016). Linking servant leadership to individual performance: Differentiating the mediating role of autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), 124–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.04.004