Shared Authentic Leadership in Research Teams: Testing a Multiple Mediation Model

Hannes Guenter*, William L. Gardner, Kelly Davis McCauley, Brandon Randolph-Seng, Veena P. Prahbu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Research teams face complex leadership and coordination challenges. We propose shared authentic leadership (SAL) as a timely approach to addressing these challenges. Drawing from authentic and functional leadership theories, we posit a multiple mediation model that suggests three mechanisms whereby SAL influences team effectiveness: shared mental models (SMM), team trust, and team coordination. To test our hypotheses, we collected survey data on leadership and teamwork within 142 research teams that recently published an article in a peer-reviewed management journal. The results indicate team coordination represents the primary mediating mechanism accounting for the relationship between SAL and research team effectiveness. While teams with high trust and SMM felt more successful and were more satisfied, they were less successful in publishing in high-impact journals. We also found the four SAL dimensions (i.e., self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing, and internalized moral perspective) to associate differently with team effectiveness
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)719-765
Number of pages47
JournalSmall Group Research
Volume48
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2017

Keywords

  • authentic leadership
  • shared leadership
  • team effectiveness
  • research team
  • PROJECT TEAMS
  • INTERRATER RELIABILITY
  • PERFORMANCE
  • SELF-MANAGING TEAMS
  • MISSING DATA
  • MULTILEVEL RESEARCH
  • MENTAL MODELS
  • GROUP-LEVEL CONSTRUCTS
  • ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH
  • WORK GROUPS

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