“Organizational Change and Characteristics of Leadership Effectiveness” by Ann Gilley, Heather McMillan, and Jerry W. Gilley was published in the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies in 2009. It became one of the top downloaded articles of the year, so the authors have provided a brief insight on their study as well as continued research:
This article is part of a larger longitudinal study of managerial/leadership practices and malpractice inspired by our more than four decades of experience and consulting in the corporate world. In addition to change, this study explores leadership effectiveness at all organizational levels in a host of areas, including communications, decision making, coaching, rewards and recognition, and team building, to name a few. In truth, we’ve been surprised by the results. For example, respondents have indicated that their managers/leaders are ‘never,’ ‘rarely,’ or only ‘sometimes’ effective in each of our topical areas nearly 75% of the time. This confirms that managerial malpractice is alive and well in organizations.
We’ve had a tremendous response rate (nearly 95%), even enthusiasm, from respondents. Everyone deals with managers / leaders, which may explain why the topic resonates with so many. It has struck a chord with respondents, many of whom want to ‘tell their story,’ particularly of experiences with ineffective or ‘bad’ managers / leaders. Our continuing research gathers data about leadership characteristics and skills in one’s organization as well as regarding one’s immediate supervisor. Future articles gleaned from the data will examine leadership skill levels associated with other topics in the study (e.g., team building, communications, etc.), at differing organizational levels, and pre- and post-recession perceptions, among others. Thus far, we’ve enjoyed partnering with various topical experts, and look forward to future collaborations.
