Lost in translation? Emotional intelligence, affective economies, leadership and organizational change

Not until the late 1990s did the rational/emotional binary embedded in mainstream literature on educational leadership and management come under challenge. Now the emotional dimensions of organisational change and leadership are widely recognised in the leadership, organisational change and school improvement literature. However, the dissolution of the binary did not draw from feminist social theory, critical organisational theory, the sociology of emotions or critical pedagogy. Instead, the strongest influence in educational leadership and administration has been from psychological theory, management theory and brain science, mobilised particularly through Goleman's notion of emotional intelligence. This article undertakes a feminist deconstruction of two texts: one from organisational theory by Goleman and the other on educational leadership and school improvement, in order to explore how ‘emotion’ has been translated into educational leadership. As a counterpoint, I identify the gaps and silences, appropriations and marginalisation identified from feminist perspectives. I argue that the emotional labour of teaching and leading cannot be individualised because emotion is both relational and contextual.

Leadership and the deified/demonic : a cultural examination of CEO sanctification

I examine in this paper deification and demonisation – the social attribution of absolute ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’ to individuals or individual entities. Specifically, I unpack ways that evilness and goodness have become personified in the figure of the chief executive officer in contemporary, particularly US, business culture. Showing both the readily accessible and widely used nature of these religious tropes, I nevertheless argue that both deification and demonisation have ethically and politically disempowering effects for organisational members, the wider citizenry, and for critique within the field of business ethics.

Learning leadership is in your hands : toward a scholarship of teaching in practical legal training

A scholarship of teaching in post-graduate pre-admission practical legal training is germane to perceptions of the quality of accreditation of young Australian lawyers practicing in a globalised profession. Traditional forms of teaching scholarship in law have been identified as influencing the well being of law students and practitioners. This article reviews literature that frames a definition and prerequisites for a scholarship of teaching, its traditional and potential forms, and its subject matter. It considers the present position of a scholarship of teaching in practical legal training, and the historical and organisational epistemological approaches to professional practical training (compared to academic education) that shape that position. Problems of validity, measurement, performativity, and engagement in teaching scholarship are introduced, followed by consideration of possible methodological approaches drawing on Schon’s conception of action research, together with emergent methodologies, technologies and practical considerations that enable individual practitioners to pursue and lead a scholarship of teaching in practical legal training. The article frames questions for further doctoral research in relation to practical legal training teachers’ engagement with the scholarship of teaching.

Learning leadership is in your hands : toward a scholarship of teaching in practical legal training

This article seeks to promote discussion about scholarship of teaching in Australian postgraduate pre-admission practical legal training (PLT). This is germane to perceptions of the quality of accreditation of young Australian lawyers practicing in a globalised profession. The article gives a definition and outlines the prerequisites for scholarship of teaching. The present position of teacher engagement with scholarship of teaching in Australian PLT is considered, together with the historical and organisational epistemological approaches to professional practical training. Problems of validity, measurement, performativity, and engagement in teaching scholarship are discussed. Possible methodological approaches, including Schön’s conception of action research, together with other methodologies, technologies, and practical considerations, are considered. These discussion points are directed toward future exploration of PLT teachers’ engagement with, and leadership in, the scholarship of teaching in PLT.

A crisis of leadership : towards an anti-sovereign ethics of organisation

A common reaction to crises experienced within or brought about by business is to identify a corollary ‘crisis of leadership’ and to call for better (stronger, more thoughtful or, indeed, more ethical and responsible) leaders. This paper supports the idea that there is a crisis of leadership – but interprets it quite differently. Specifically, I argue that the most ethically debilitating crisis is the fact that we look to leadership to solve organisational ethical ills. There is, I argue, a pressing need to conceptualise a business ethics that is not constrained by the straitjacket of official hierarchy – a need to denaturalise ‘leadership’ as the normal or rightful locus of ethical regulation and renewal in business organisation. To this end, I explore a Levinasian ethico-politics of responsibility and proximity as the basis of an alternative, anti-sovereign, ethics of organisation.

Factors to drive clinical practice improvement in a Malaysian intensive care unit : assessment of organisational readiness using a mixed method approach

This study assessed organisational readiness and factors to drive clinical practice improvement for VAP, CRBSI and PU in a Malaysian intensive care unit (ICU). A mixed method study approach was undertaken in a 16-bed ICU in regional Malaysia using an environmental scan, key informant interviews, staff surveys, and patient audit to elucidate factors contributing to planning for clinical practice improvement. Measurements of sustainability of practice and regard for the practice environment were assessed using validated measures. An environmental scan demonstrated high patient occupancy and case load. Nineteen percent of ICU patients developed complications according to validated measures. Survey results indicated that the majority of nurses had a good knowledge of strategies to prevent ICU complications and a positive attitude toward change processes. Engaging executive leadership was identified as crucial in priming the clinical site for practice change. Providing nurses with tools to monitor their clinical practice and empowering them to change practices are important in improving clinical outcomes.

Exploring distributed leadership for the quality management of online learning environments

Online learning environments (OLEs) are complex information technology (IT) systems that intersect with many areas of university organisation. Distributed models of leadership have been proposed as appropriate for the good governance of OLEs. Based on theoretical and empirical research, a group of Australian universities proposed a framework for the quality management of OLEs, and sought to validate the model via a survey of Australasian university representatives with OLE leadership responsibility. For the framework elements: Planning and Resourcing were rated most important; Organisational structure was rated least important; Technologies were rated low in importance and high in satisfaction; Resourcing and Evaluation were rated low in satisfaction; and Resourcing had the highest rating of importance coupled with low satisfaction. Considering distributed leadership in their institution, respondents reported that the organisational alignments represented by 'official' reporting and peer relationships were significantly more important and more effective than the organisational alignments linking the formal and informal leaders. From a range of desirable characteristics of distributed leadership, 'continuity and sustainability' received the highest rating of importance and a low rating of 'in evidence' - there are concerns about the sustainability of distributed leadership for the governance of OLEs in universities.

Strategic leadership and its contribution to improvements in teaching and learning in Higher Education

This paper aims to provide a strong conceptual underpinning for our project, ‘Strategic Leadership for Institutional Teaching and Learning Centres: Developing a Model for the 21st century’. The project intends to:

Love and leadership: constructing follower narrative identities of charismatic leadership

Most extant research on charismatic leadership has an essentialist orientation that characterises it as leader behaviour, leader communication or follower dependency. Our approach is more discursively oriented. To research charismatic leadership, we used aesthetic narrative positivism, which undertook utilitarian as well as critical method. We examined followers' implicit narratives of their lived experiences of charismatic leadership in organisational settings. We examined metaphors for this experience. Most respondents identified with positive affect, a form of love story; a minority experienced negative affect, especially anger; and some experienced both positive and negative emotions. We posit that if one adopts a certain identity within the context of a dramatic narrative, one might be attributed with charismatic qualities by followers. In this way, we suggest that charismatic leadership might be less a gift from God and more a 'gift from followers'. © The Author(s) 2013.

Seven Models for applying Inquiry for Organisational change

Appreciative inquiry is a collaborative and positive approach to change developed by David Cooperrider. The approach is built on the assumption that every organisation has a 'positive core' that has contributed to its previous successes as well as its current strengths, potentials and assets. This presentation outlines how members of an organisation, such as a school community, can be involved, through collaborative storytelling and analysis, to identify their institution's positive core; a process that enhances every participants' energy, vision and actions for change. The steps will demonstrate how appreciative inquiry can be a practical leadership tool for change with a range of purposes. This presentation provides seven innovative ways that appreciativeinquiry can be applied and an Al template for use in diverse organisational settings.

Perceptions of organisational subculture and their significance for organisational commitment

This paper investigates the relationship between perceptions of organisational culture, organisational subculture, leadership style, and commitment. The impact of culture and leadership style on commitment has been previously noted, but there is a lack of detail regarding how different types of culture and leadership styles relate to commitment. The paper particularly addresses the notion of organisational subcultures and how the perception of those cultures relates to commitment, subculture being a neglected variable in the commitment literature. These issues were addressed in a survey of 258 nurses drawn from a range of hospital settings and wards within the Sydney metropolitan region. Results indicate that perceived organisational subculture has a strong relationship with commitment. Furthermore, the results identify the relative strength of specific types of leadership style and specific types of subculture with commitment. Both innovative and supportive subcultures have a clear positive relationship, while bureaucratic subcultures have a negative relationship. In terms of leadership style, a consideration style had a stronger relationship with commitment than a structuring style. Regression analysis was used to investigate the possible role of subculture as a mediator for the influence of leadership on commitment. Both direct and indirect effects of leadership on commitment were found. Implications for practice and for further research are discussed.

The impact of leadership and change management strategy on organizational culture and individual acceptance of change during a merger

This article reports a longitudinal study that examined mergers between three large multi-site public-sector organizations. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis are used to examine the effect of leadership and change management strategies on acceptance of cultural change by individuals. Findings indicate that in many cases the change that occurs as a result of a merger is imposed on the leaders themselves, and it is often the pace of change that inhibits the successful re-engineering of the culture. In this respect, the success or otherwise of any merger hinges on individual perceptions about the manner in which the process is handled and the direction in which the culture is moved. Communication and a transparent change process are important, as this will often determine not only how a leader will be regarded, but who will be regarded as a leader. Leaders need to be competent and trained in the process of transforming organizations to ensure that individuals within the organization accept the changes prompted by a merger.