“Mind the Leadership Gap!”
Cover of GJSD Vol. 3., Issue 2.
PDF

Keywords

leadership qualities
remote teams
wellbeing
emotional intelligence
millenial

How to Cite

Murphy, L., & Turnbull, H. (2023). “Mind the Leadership Gap!”: A Call to Action for the Future Research Agenda. GILE Journal of Skills Development, 3(2), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.52398/gjsd.2023.v3.i2.pp26-33

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has acted as a catalyst for organisational change, disrupting historic ways of working, and spearheading organisations towards the next evolution of their working environments. In the aftermath of the largest concurrent work from home experiment in the world, organisations are coming to grips with the new policies and practices they need to implement to remain competitive. But there is one crucial stakeholder who continues to be left out in academic research, leaders. New questions now arise as to how we should remodel leadership in an increasingly remote world. What skills do leaders need to develop and how, in order to maintain employee wellbeing and manage the intergenerational divide? This paper presents a short synthesis of the challenges faced by leaders today specifically around remote team management but also in the context of a multigenerational workforce, alongside a summary of the research gaps we face in post-COVID literature. This paper concludes with the production of a future research agenda for scholars to close this gap, and to help organisations in building their leadership capability in the ‘new normal’.

https://doi.org/10.52398/gjsd.2023.v3.i2.pp26-33
PDF

References

Abrams, Z. (2019). The future of remote work. American Psychological Association 50 (9). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/10/cover-remote-work

Adenle, C. (2020). Working from home during coronavirus? Six tips to make it work. Elsevier Connect https://www.elsevier.com/connect/working-from-home-during-coronavirus-6-tips-to-make-it-work

Afota, M.-C., Provost Savard, Y., Ollier-Malaterre, A., & Léon, E. (2022). Work-from-home adjustment in the US and Europe: the role of psychological climate for face time and perceived availability expectations. International journal of human resource management, ahead-of-print, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2022.2090269

Bader, A., Reade, C., & Froese, F. (2019). Terrorism and Expatriate Withdrawal Cognitions: The Differential Role of Perceived Work and Non-work Constraints. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 30(11), 1769–1793. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1233448

Bader, B.,Stoermer S., Bader, A., & Schuster T. (2018). Institutional Discrimination of Women and Workplace Harassment of Female Expatriates: Evidence from 25 Host Countries. Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research 6 (1), 40–58. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-06-2017-0022

Brown, S.M. (2021). Thinking about developing business leadership for the post-COVID world, New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, 25(2), 2574-2904. https://doi.org/10.1108/NEJE-04-2021-0026

Camp, K., Young, M., & Bushardt, S. (2021). A millennial manager skills model for the new remote work environment. Management Research Review 45(5), 635-648. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-01-2021-0076

Chamakiotis, P., Panteli, N. & Davison, R.M. (2021). Reimagining e-leadership for reconfigured virtual teams due to COVID-19. International Journal of Management, 60, 102381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102381

Clark, T., Foster, L., Sloan, L. & Bryman, A. (2021). Bryman’s Social Research Methods. (6th ed). Oxford University Press.

DeSilver, D. (2020). Before the coronavirus, telework was an optional benefit, mostly for the affluent few. 2022, https://pewrsr.ch/2Qwk1zt

Dirani, K.M., Abadi, M., Alizadeh, A., Barhate, B., Garza, R.C., Gunasekara, N., Ibrahim, G. and Mazjun, Z. (2020). Leadership competencies and the essential role of human resource development in times of crisis: a response to Covid-19 pandemic. Human Resource Development Journal, 23(4), 380-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2020.1780078

Faeth, P. C., & Kittler M.G. (2017) How Do You Fear? Examining Expatriates’ Perception of Danger and Its Consequences. Journal of Global Mobility 5(4), 391–417. https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-11-2016-0063

Gherson, D. (2022, February 17). Managers can’t do it all. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/03/managers-cant-do-it-all

Giurge, L.M., & Bohns, V.K. (2020, April 3). Three tips to avoid WFH burnout. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/04/3-tips-to-avoid-wfh-burnout

Hennelly, D. S., & Schurman B. (2023, January 5). Bridging Generational Divides in Your Workplace. Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2023/01/bridging-generational-divides-in-your-workplace

Ipsen, C., Kirchner, K., Andersone, N., & Karanika-Murray, M. (2022). Becoming a Distance Manager: Managerial Experiences, Perceived Organizational Support, and Job Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.916234

Kalamar, B. (2022). CRAFT Leadership. Pallas Athene Books.

Kirchner, K., Ipsen, C., & Hansen, J.P. (2021). COVID-19 leadership challenges in knowledge work, Knowledge Management Research and Practice, 19(4), 493-500. https://doi.org/10.1080/14778238.2021.1877579

McRae, E., Aykens, P., Lowmaster, K., & Shepp, J. (2023, January 18) 9 Trends that will shape work in 2023 and beyond. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2023/01/9-trends-that-will-shape-work-in-2023-and-beyond

Murphy, L. (2023). Work automation and the rise of virtual teams: how to lead employees in the post-pandemic world. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-04-2023-0092

Parry, J., Young, Z., Bevan, S.,Veliziotis, M., Baruch, Y., Beigi, M., Bajorek, Z., Salter, E., & Tochia, C. (2021). Working from Home under COVID?19 lockdown: Transitions and tensions, Work after Lockdown. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/446405/1/Work_After_Lockdown_Insight_report_Jan_2021_1_.pdf

Porkodi, S. (2022). Leadership Approaches for Post-Covid Recovery: A Systemic Literature Review, European Journal of Business and Management Research, 7(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbmr.2022.7.3.1420

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research Methods for Business Students. 8th Edition. Pearson Education Ltd.

Simon, P., Maor. D., Guggenberger, P., Park, M., Luo, M., Klingler, D., D’Auria, G., Weddle, B., De Smet, A., Fletcher, B., Thaker, S. & Di Lodovico, A. (2023). The State of Organisations, https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-state-of-organizations-2023

Tourish, D. (2019). Making a difference: Doing leadership research that matters. Journal of Management and Organization 25(3), 364-369. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.6

Vargas, O.L. (2020, June 9). COVID-19 unleashed the potential for telework – How are workers coping? https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/blog/covid-19-unleashed-the-potential-for-telework-how-are-workers-coping

Williamson, K., Johanson, G., Byrne, A., Given, L. M., Kennan, M. A., & Oliver, G. (2018). The future of information research. In K. Williamson & G. Johanson (Eds.), Research Methods (2nd ed.) Chandos Publishing.

World Health Organisation (2020). HealthyAtHome – Mental Health. https://www.who.int/campaigns/connecting-the-world-to-combat-coronavirus/healthyathome/healthyathome---mental-health

Zhang, Y., Zhao, R., & Yu, X. (2022). Enhancing Virtual Team Performance via high-quality interpersonal relationships: effects of authentic leadership, International Journal of Manpower 43(4), 982-1000. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-08-2020-0378

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2023 Liam Murphy, Helen Turnbull