Jeffery D. Houghton

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.

Toward a Contingency Model of Leadership and Psychological Empowerment: When Should Self-Leadership Be Encouraged?

In this paper, we develop and present a contingency model of leadership and psychological empowerment that specifies the circumstances and situations under which follower self-leadership should be encouraged. The model suggests that certain key contingency factors, including follower development, situational urgency and task structure, dictate which of several leadership approaches, including directive, transactional, transformational and empowering, should be chosen. Each specific leadership approach in turn results in a specific combination of predictable outcomes, which include the level of follower involvement, dependence, creativity and psychological empowerment. We also advance research propositions based on the model and discuss the models practical implications along with possible approaches for empirically testing its linkages.

Maximizing organizational leadership capacity for the future

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and present a model of self‐leadership, innovation and creativity.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon existing theoretical and empirical evidence the paper develops and presents a conceptual model of the relationships between self‐leadership, innovation, creativity, and organizational support. The paper also presents research propositions based upon the relationships suggested by the model.Findings – The model suggests that individuals with strong self‐leadership will consider themselves to have more innovation and creativity potential than individuals who have weak self‐leadership, and that individuals who have innovation and creativity potential will be more likely to practise innovation and creativity when they perceive strong support from the workplace than individuals who perceive weak support from the workplace.Research limitations/implications – Future researchers should examine empirically the linkages suggested by this model along with othe...

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.

Perceived Organizational Support and Turnover Intention: The Mediating Effects of Personal Sacrifice and Job Fit

ABSTRACT This study examines the mediating role of job fit on the relationship between perceived supervisor support (PSS) and perceived organizational support (POS), and the mediating role of personal sacrifice on the relationship between POS and turnover intention. We use structural equation modeling (SEM) with a data set consisting of a sample of 346 individuals in a manufacturing firm to test our proposed model of PSS, POS, and turnover intention. Consistent with prior literature, our hypothesized model confirms that PSS is a predictor of POS and that POS is a predictor of turnover intention. By testing two additional competing and theoretically derived nested models, our findings indicate that job fit partially mediates the relationship between PSS and POS, and that personal sacrifice partially mediates the relationship between POS and turnover intention. Our study is among the first to examine job fit and personal sacrifice as mediators within the POS-turnover intention model.

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.

Narrowing the Creativity Gap: The Moderating Effects of Perceived Support for Creativity

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of 3 types of perceived support for creativity in moderating the relation between creative self-efficacy and self-perceived creativity. The findings suggest significant interaction effects for perceived work-group support and supervisor support, but not for perceived organizational support. This study is among the first to (a) examine the importance of perceived support for creativity in unlocking creative potential and increasing creativity in organizations and (b) use interaction terms in structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate moderator effects in an applied research setting. These results imply that organizational interventions focused on training supervisors and work-group members to support creativity in the workplace may be more effective than broader and less focused interventions at the organizational level.

Environmental leadership development

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide a basis for comparing the interactions between the level of environmental support for leadership development and individual leadership characteristics in determining leadership selection and effectiveness within organizations.Design/methodology/approach – A contextual model of leader selection and effectiveness examining the interactions between the level of environmental support and individual leadership characteristics to predict specific research propositions based on organizational needs is presented. The paper first provides an overview of leadership selection and effectiveness research and then illustrates a contextual model of leadership selection and effectiveness. The model design is based on a four‐quadrant structure with two propositions being suggested for each quadrant. Findings – Describes the context and proposed outcome of each respective quadrant for identifying and selecting potential leadership talent within an organization. The model ...

Creative Potential and Practised Creativity: Identifying Untapped Creativity in Organizations

This study examines the construct validity of creative potential and practised creativity, two overlooked aspects of creativity that may be useful for identifying untapped creative resources in organizations. Results of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) utilizing structural equation modelling techniques provide some initial evidence in support of the construct validity of these concepts. These findings appear to have important managerial implications for increasing creativity and overall organizational effectiveness. The results presented here also suggest some directions for future research aimed at examining the relationships between creative potential, practised creativity and other variables of interest.