Christopher P. Neck

The “what”, “why” and “how” of spirituality in the workplace

While the attention to workplace spirituality is growing, there is debate as to what exactly this term “spirituality” means. There seems to be multiple views of workplace spirituality. It could be argued that there are different definitions for the meaning of “spirituality” due to the very strong personal nature of the word itself. We argue that this multiple view of spirituality is a positive thing for organizations if managers attempt to understand differing spiritual views and also encourage all views within an organization. In this paper, we summarize the different perspectives of spirituality, discuss the benefits of encouraging spirituality within organizations, and examine different perspectives of implementing a spirituality‐based culture within firms.

Thought Self-leadership Finding Spiritual Fulfilment in Organizational Life

Offers a number of insights into the nature of spirituality in organizations and how employees can gain greater spirituality and purpose in their work. Specifically, proposes that a recent leadership theory, thought self‐leadership, can assist employees in influencing or leading themselves towards experiencing more spirituality in their organizational life.

Two decades of self-leadership theory and research: Past developments, present trends, and future possibilities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough review of self‐leadership literature past and present, including a historical overview of how the concept was created and expanded as well as a detailed look at more recent self‐leadership research trends and directions. The paper also presents a theoretical and conceptual explanation and differentiation of the self‐leadership concept relative to other related motivational, personality, and self‐influence constructs.Design/methodology/approach – Self‐leadership research and related literatures of motivation, personality and self‐influence are discussed and described in order to present the current state of the self‐leadership body of knowledge and to suggest future directions to explore and study.Findings – It is suggested that self‐leadership is a normative model of self‐influence that operates within the framework of more descriptive and deductive theories such as self‐regulation and social cognitive theory.Research limitations/implications – ...

The revised self‐leadership questionnaire: Testing a hierarchical factor structure for self‐leadership

Despite the popularity and potential of self‐leadership strategies in modern organizations, no acceptably valid and reliable self‐leadership assessment scale has heretofore been developed. The present study tests the reliability and construct validity of a revised self‐leadership measurement scale created on the basis of existing measures of self‐leadership. Results from an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) demonstrate significantly better reliability and factor stability for the revised scale in comparison to existing instruments. Further, results from a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) utilizing structural equation modeling techniques demonstrate superior fit for a higher order factor model of self‐leadership, thus providing evidence that the revised scale is measuring self‐leadership in a way that is harmonious with self‐leadership theory. Based on these results, the revised scale appears to be a reasonably reliable and valid instrument for the measurement of self‐leadership skills, behaviors, and cognitions. Implications for future empirical self‐leadership research are discussed.

Thought self-leadership: the impact of mental strategies training on employee cognition, behavior, and affect

Thought self-leadership involves employee self-influence through cognitive strategies that focus on individual self-dialogue, mental imagery, beliefs and assumptions, and thought patterns. A training intervention-based field study with a control group was undertaken to empirically examine the applicability of thought self-leadership in an organizational setting (of bankruptcy financial status), and the potential for cognitions to be self-controlled. Results suggested that individuals who received the thought self-leadership training experienced increased mental performance, positive affect (enthusiasm), job satisfaction, and decreased negative affect (nervousness) relative to those not receiving the training. Additionally, the trainees reported a strong and positive reaction to the training. Finally, those who received the training experienced enhanced perceptions of self-efficacy and more optimistic perceptions of the organizations bankruptcy condition than those not receiving the training.

Self-Leadership: A Process for Entrepreneurial Success:

Our purpose in this paper is to provide a comprehensive examination of recent research into individual differences in order to better understand the future promise of self-leadership as a concept and a research subject for entrepreneurship. We briefly present a description of self-leadership research and then proceed to describe and contrast the self-leadership concept relative to other related motivational and self-influence constructs including: optimism, happiness, psychological flow, consciousness, personality models, self-monitoring, the need for autonomy, emotional intelligence, and diversity factors including age, gender, and cultural differences, and the worklife interface. We relate these concepts to entrepreneurship, and conclude with suggestions for future research on the relationships between self-leadership, individual differences, and entrepreneurship.

Group Decision Fiascoes Continue: Space Shuttle Challenger and a Revised Groupthink Framework

This paper reviews the decision situation surrounding the decision to launch the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986 in the light of the groupthink hypothesis. A revised framework is presented that proposes time and leadership style as moderators of the manner in which group characteristics lead to groupthink symptoms.

“I think I can; I think I can”: A self-leadership perspective toward enhancing entrepreneur thought patterns, self-efficacy, and performance

The concept of “Thought Self‐Leadership” involves individual self‐influence through cognitive strategies that focus on self‐dialogue, mental imagery, beliefs and assumptions, and thought patterns. A plethora of studies from various fields including management, counseling psychology, sports psychology, education, and communication, address the effect of these Thought Self‐Leadership cognitive strategies on cognitions and behaviors. This research provides consistent support for the relationship between constructive self‐leadership of these cognitive processes and enhanced performance. The application of these cognitive strategies to the entrepreneurship domain, however, is sparse. We propose that the application of these principles to the entrepreneurial process offers the potential to enhance individual performance and mental states for both practicing and aspiring entrepreneurs. Propositions derived from the proposed framework are developed to serve as catalysts for empirically testing the applicability of Thought Self‐Leadership to the entrepreneurship context.

Thought Self-Leadership as a Framework for Enhancing the Performance of Performance Appraisers

A seminal review by Ilgen, Barnes-Farrell, and McKellin (1993) of empirical performance appraisal research during the 1980s suggested that the research during this decade made a number of contributions to the performance appraisal field, but to a limited degree. This article attempts to overcome one of these limits in the 1980s appraisal research suggested by Ilgen et al.-that is, the investigation of the content of cognitive variables. Specifically, this examination is completed through the application of a cognitive process recently introduced in the management literature, thought self-leadership, to the performance appraisal process.

The Relationship between Self-Leadership and Personality: A Comparison of Hierarchical Factor Structures

This study examined the relationship between self‐leadership and personality through an analysis and comparison of hierarchical factor structures. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine several competing models combining the hierarchical factor structures of self‐leadership and personality. Model fit increased significantly through a progression of models that reflected increasingly greater distinction between self‐leadership skill dimensions and key personality traits. The best fitting model consisted of a hierarchical factor structure with three first‐order self‐leadership factors, three first‐order personality factors, and two correlated second‐order factors. Unexpectedly, the general second‐order factors of self‐leadership and personality were statistically indistinguishable. Nevertheless, these results seem to provide some initial evidence that self‐leadership dimensions are distinct from, yet related to, certain key personality traits. The implications of these results for future self‐leadership research and practice are discussed.