Leadership as dance : a consideration of the applicability of the ‘mother’ of all arts as the basis for establishing connoisseurship

This article follows the lead of several researchers who claim there is an urgent need to utilize insights from the arts, aesthetics and the humanities to expand our understanding of leadership. It endeavours to do this by exploring the metaphor of dance. It begins by critiquing current policy metaphors used in the leadership literature that present a narrow and functional view of leadership. It presents and discusses a conceptual model of leadership as dance that incorporates key dimensions such as context, dance and music and includes Polyani’s concept of connoisseurship. This article identifies some of the tensions that are inherent in both notions of dance and leadership. The final part of the article discusses the implications the model raises for broadening our understanding of leadership and school leadership preparation programmes. Three core implications raised here are (i) making space for alternative metaphors in leadership preparation programmes; (ii) providing opportunities to students of leadership to understand through alternative learning approaches and (iii) providing opportunities for engagement in alternative research agendas.

Transforming organizational leadership : a schema change perspective

Successful organizational transformation typically requires transformed leadership; that is, fundamental changes in the implicit leadership schema that underpin observed organizational leadership practice. The purpose of this study is to elaborate leadership schema change theory by investigating a case study in which the CEO of a public infrastructure organization sought to transform traditional organizational leadership to facilitate wider organization transformation. Data were generated through focus groups and semi-structured interviews at four points over a three-year period. Our findings suggest that (a) change leader initiatives do not necessarily activate the cognitive processing required to achieve leadership schema change, (b) collective schema change, defined in terms of the system of beliefs and values underlying the new leading-managing schema did not occur, however, (c) sub-schema change did occur. The research contributes to existing literature on implicit leadership schema change in three main ways. First, we provide a schema change framework to guide current and future research on schema change. Second, we highlight the role that both change leader initiatives and individual and social processing play in schema change. Finally, we stress the role of teleological processes in leadership schema change.

Development of self-efficacy questionnaire for Chinese family caregivers

The purpose of this study was to develop a Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Chinese Family Caregivers. Semi-structured interviews with 10 family caregivers of people with dementia were conducted to explore how Chinese caregivers manage caregiving and what difficulties they face. The findings of the study assisted in the development of the instrument. Five categories of caregiver behaviours were identified from the qualitative data: gathering information about treatment, symptoms, and health care; obtaining support; responding to behaviour disturbances; managing household, personal, and medical care; and managing distress associated with caregiving. The challenges of caregiving were also identified, including deterioration of care recipients, particularly their behaviour disturbances, a shortage of supportive resources, stigmatization of dementia among the general population, as well as increased distress and decreased social activities due to increased care demand. The findings were used to develop the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Chinese Family Caregivers, and 35 items comprising five subscales (representing the above five categories of caregiver behaviour) were generated.

New organisational leadership capabilities : transitional engineer the new designer?

Traditionally, design has been centred within the manufacturing and production areas of companies and or as a styling afterthought. Increasingly, design is viewed as a vital and important strategic business resource (Dell’Era, Marchesi & Verganti, 2010) and consequently companies worldwide look to design to help them innovate, differentiate and compete in the global marketplace. The role of the professional designer is evolving to a point where they are needed to work beyond being a specialist in the manufacturing and aesthetics of an artefact (Wrigley & Bucolo, 2011). This paper challenges the values held by academics and industry regarding the traditional role of designers in business. It investigates the emerging transitional engineering framework and puts forward a proposal for the next generation designer in the future era of design. Questions surrounding how designers will develop these new skills and how the Authors’ new framework of design led innovation can contribute to the future of design will be presented. This research is needed to better equip future designers to have a more central role in business.

Gaps in organizational leadership : linking strategic and operational activities through design-led propositions

The relationship between design process and business systems has been of interest to both practitioners and researchers exploring the numerous opportunities and challenges of this unlikely relationship. Often the relationship is presented as building design thinking capability within an organization, which can be broadly described as the union of design and strategy. Brown (2008) notes that design thinking is ‘‘a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technically feasible and what business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunities’’ (p. 1). The value that design thinking brings to an organization is a different way of framing situations and possibilities, doing things, and tackling problems: essentially a cultural transformation of the way it undertakes its business. The work of Martin (2009) has clearly shown the generalized differences between design thinking and business thinking, highlighting many instances in which these differences have been overcome, but also noting the many obstacles of trying to unify both approaches within an organization. Liedtka (2010) encourages firms to try and persist in overcoming these barriers, as she has noted that ‘‘business strategy desperately needs design ... because design is all about action and business strategy too often turns out to be only about talk ... fewer than 10 percent of new strategies are ever fully executed’’ (p. 9).

Leadership [2nd Asia-Pacific ed.]

This second edition of Leadership continues to offer a balanced approach to the study of leadership, drawing on Australasian practices and international theory. It looks at the characteristics of leaders in a wide variety of Australasian settings - organisations in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, as well as in politics and in our community. Traditional content such as charismatic, transformational, contingency, and situational theories of leadership are covered in detail, along with the power, influence, motivation, coaching, communication, and team building aspects of leadership. The text also introduces contemporary issues, such as entrepreneurship, knowledge management, leadership in international contexts, and the importance of ethics and social responsibility.

Leadership, an Australasian Focus

The intention of this Australian adaptation of DuBrin is to bring an Australian/Asia Pacific focus to the theoretically strong American text on leadership. The book covers leaders performing a number of specific roles and functions in a wide variety of organisational positions in all sectors including private, political and community.

Shifting meanings : The role of metaphors in collective meaning–making in complex project leadership

This paper examines the use of metaphors in collective meaning-making in the work of managers and leaders of megaprojects, drawing on interviews with thirty-three leaders of complex projects in a case study organisation responsible for the delivery of major acquisitions. Recognising the notion of both contextualised and decontextualised approaches to either seeking to elicit or project metaphors, the paper describes the various ways in practising project leaders describe their work and the synergies these metaphors have with the broader social discourse and theorisation around complexity and the language of complex adaptive systems. The paper presents our case study findings where we outline our typology of meta-metaphors describing project leaders’ multiple roles and our interpretation of the significance of these choices.

The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Foot Health Status Questionnaire

Purpose: Clinical studies suggest that foot pain may be problematic in one-third of patients in early disease. The Foot Health Status Questionnaire (FHSQ) was developed and validated to evaluate the effectiveness of conservative (orthoses, taping, stretching) and surgery interventions. Despite this fact, there are few validated instruments that measure foot health status in Spanish. Thus, the primary aim of the current study was to translate and evaluate psychometrically a Spanish version of FHSQ. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed in a university community-based podiatric clinic located in south of Spain. All participants (n = 107) recruited consecutively completed a Spanish version of FHSQ and EuroQoL Health Questionnaire 5 dimensions, and 29 participants repeated these same measures 48 h later. Data analysis included test–retest reliability, construct and criterion-related validity and factor analyses. Results: Construct validity was appropriate with moderate-to-high corrected item–subscale correlations (α = ≥0.739) for all subscales. Test–retest reliability was satisfactory (ICC > 0.932). Factor analysis revealed four dimensions with 86.6 % of the common variance explained. The confirmatory factor analysis findings demonstrated that the proposed structure was well supported (comparative fit index = 0.92, standardized root mean square = 0.09). The Spanish EuroQoL 5D score negatively correlated with the FHSQ pain (r = −0.445) and positively with general foot health and function (r = 0.261 − 0.579), confirming criterion-related validity. Conclusion: The clinimetric properties of the Spanish version of FHSQ were satisfactory.

Development of a food frequency questionnaire for Sri Lankan adults

Abstract (provisional) Background Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) are commonly used in epidemiologic studies to assess long-term nutritional exposure. Because of wide variations in dietary habits in different countries, a FFQ must be developed to suit the specific population. Sri Lanka is undergoing nutritional transition and diet-related chronic diseases are emerging as an important health problem. Currently, no FFQ has been developed for Sri Lankan adults. In this study, we developed a FFQ to assess the regular dietary intake of Sri Lankan adults. Methods A nationally representative sample of 600 adults was selected by a multi-stage random cluster sampling technique and dietary intake was assessed by random 24-h dietary recall. Nutrient analysis of the FFQ required the selection of foods, development of recipes and application of these to cooked foods to develop a nutrient database. We constructed a comprehensive food list with the units of measurement. A stepwise regression method was used to identify foods contributing to a cumulative 90% of variance to total energy and macronutrients. In addition, a series of photographs were included. Results We obtained dietary data from 482 participants and 312 different food items were recorded. Nutritionists grouped similar food items which resulted in a total of 178 items. After performing step-wise multiple regression, 93 foods explained 90% of the variance for total energy intake, carbohydrates, protein, total fat and dietary fibre. Finally, 90 food items and 12 photographs were selected. Conclusion We developed a FFQ and the related nutrient composition database for Sri Lankan adults. Culturally specific dietary tools are central to capturing the role of diet in risk for chronic disease in Sri Lanka. The next step will involve the verification of FFQ reproducibility and validity.

Factor analysis of the Self Report Version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a sample of children with intellectual disability

The rate of emotional and behavioral disturbance in children with intellectual disability (ID) is up to four times higher than that of their typically developing peers. It is important to identify these difficulties in children with ID as early as possible to prevent the chronic co-morbidity of ID and psychopathology. Children with ID have traditionally been assessed via proxy reporting, but appropriate and psychometrically rigorous instruments are needed so that children can report on their own emotions and behaviors. In this study, the factor structure of the self-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was examined in a population of 128 children with ID (mean age = 12 years). Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed a three factor model (comprising Positive Relationships, Negative Behavior and Emotional Competence) to be a better measure than the original five factor SDQ model in this population.

Identifying leadership practices for mentoring preservice teachers

There are many forms of leadership and concepts of school leadership have evolved significantly over the last few decades. Mentoring is a form of leadership, where the classroom teacher (mentor) leads and guides the preservice teacher towards advancing teaching practices. What do school executives identify as their leadership practices and what leadership practices have inspired them? This study uses a five-part Likert scale survey with extended written responses that were coded into themes. These participants indicated they had leadership potential, which they associated with being organised, passionate and knowledgeable about education, interpersonally-skilled to build relationships, and visionary with action plans for improving education. These practices were also identified by participants as inspiring practices from leaders they knew. Generally, these participants perceived themselves as transformational leaders. Transformational practices associated with individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influences were agreed upon by 80% or more of the participants. Mentors need to understand inspiring leadership practices and identify their own leadership practices that may lead towards reflection on practice and, hence, a way to make educationally-sound changes in leadership behaviour.

Contextualizing a university-school STEM education collaboration : distributed and self-activated leadership for project outcomes

Implementing educational reform requires partnerships, and university-school collaborations in the form of investigative and experimental projects can aim to determine the practicalities of reform. However, there are funded projects that do not achieve intended outcomes. In the context of a new reform initiative in education, namely, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, this article explores the management of a government-funded project. In a university school partnership for STEM education, how can leadership be distributed for achieving project outcomes? Participants included university personnel from different STEM areas, school teachers and school executives. Data collected included observations, interviews, resource materials, and video and photographic images. Findings indicated that leadership roles were distributed and selfactivated by project partners according to their areas of expertise and proximal activeness to the project phases, that is: (1) establishing partnerships; (2) planning and collaboration; (3) project implementation; and (4) project evaluation and further initiatives. Leadership can be intentional and unintentional within project phases, and understanding how leadership can be distributed and selfactivated more purposefully may aid in generating more expedient project outcomes.

Assessing coach motivation : the development of the Coach Motivation Questionnaire (CMQ)

The aim of this research was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of the Coach Motivation Questionnaire (CMQ). Study 1 focused on the compilation and pilot testing of potential questionnaire items. Consistent with self-determination theory, items were devised to tap into six forms of motivation: amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, integrated regulation, and intrinsic motivation. The purpose of the second study (N = 556) was to empirically examine the psychometric properties of the CMQ. Items were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses to determine the fit of the a priori model. In addition, the validity of the questionnaire was assessed through links with the theoretically related concepts of intrinsic need satisfaction, well-being, and goal orientation. Together with test–retest reliability (Study 3), these results showed preliminary support for the psychometric properties of the CMQ. Finally, using an independent sample (N = 254), the fourth study confirmed the factor structure and supports the use of the CMQ in future coaching research.

Narcissistic and service-oriented leadership : contrasting perspectives

Leadership writing has tended to present a positive picture about leadership practice yet, in recent times, researchers have highlighted the ‘dark side’ of leadership. In this exploratory conceptual paper, we juxtapose two contrasting forms of leadership: narcissistic leadership and service-oriented leadership (that draws heavily upon servant leadership) in order to provide a better understanding of both of these forms. In particular, we explore four core constructs of leadership: service, power, role of followers, and morality, to provide a constrast. Given that little empirical works exists on narcissistic and servant leadership in educational contexts, the paper concludes by arguing for further research in the field.