<p>ABSTRACT The effects of transformational leadership on organizational financial performance were examined using mixed methods with a sequential research design. For the qualitative phase of the study, 24 participants, eight leaders and 16 followers, described their experience, thoughts, and feelings about the phenomenon of transformational leadership as it pertains to organizational learning, organizational innovation, and followers? behavior during telephone interviews. Organizational learning, organizational innovation, and followers? behavior were considered as the contributing factors of organizational financial performance. For the quantitative phase, 17 leaders and 48 of their direct followers (N = 65) completed the (MLQ-5X) short survey developed by Bass and Avolio (1995). The correlation between the contributing factors of organizational financial performance and organizational performance as measured by ROI, ROE, and EPS were examined. A psycho dimension of transformational leadership was introduced with the paradox of self-conception, self-perception, and perception. A unified approach of transformational leadership with an emergent approach of communication was proposed. The study invites leaders and followers to operate in the realm of self-awareness and the awareness of the I or me concept, which requires a persistent dynamism from both leaders and followers. This persistent dynamism requires leaders and followers to learn from their psychological environment and the psychological tension in the workplace. When leaders and followers begin to apply these recommendations, they will be more equipped to assume the leadership role and exert a more positive influence on their neighborhood, community, society, organization, country, and the World.

<p> Research has shown that the United States governments have spent a considerable amount of human and financial resources on transformational leadership initiatives, aimed at improving outcomes within the federal, state and local governments. Transformational leadership holds the answers to those seeking to develop and foster effective leadership traits that are common and valued in public sector organizations. Research has also shown that the concepts of transformational leadership are among the most popular and current approaches to understand effective leadership in organizations. This quantitative study is an attempt to compare the perception of transformational leadership traits from middle-level managers and supervisors across the three levels of government in the United States. The study used Avolio &amp; Bass Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Form 5X (MLQ) to assess the perceived transformational leadership traits demonstrated by leaders within the federal, state and local government. Transformational leadership comprises five dimensions, which are idealized influence attributes, idealized influence behavior, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. A total of 725 employees from federal, state and local government participated in the study. The hypotheses for the study were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study concluded that while there was no significant difference in the perceived transformational traits among the three levels of government in the United States, the results also indicated that there is need for a higher level of transformational leadership practices across the three levels of government in the United States. </p>

<p> <b>Purpose</b>: The purpose of this mixed method phenomenological study was to explore and understand the leadership preferences of millennial employees in the public sector. Leadership preferences were generally defined as the traits and behaviors supervisors possess that millennials favor in the workplace. The study was designed to explore the beliefs, attitudes, and needs current public sector millennial employees have about their supervisor or leader. </p><p> <b>Methodology</b>: The subjects in this study were 50 millennial employees in the human resources department of a public-sector agency in Los Angeles County, California. Subjects responded to two research instruments: (1) a 7-item survey, the LMX7 Questionnaire, utilized to examine the quality of exchange between a leader and subordinate; and (2) a 20-item survey, Kelley&rsquo;s Followership Questionnaire, utilized to measure independent critical thinking and active engagement. Eight employees were selected and responded to an interview that utilized 11 semi-structured questions to assess subjects&rsquo; individual experiences of public sector millennial employees. </p><p> <b>Findings</b>: Examination of quantitative and qualitative data from the respondents indicated that, despite their apparent similarities, millennial employees in the public sector are unique. Second, an examination of the same data indicated that, while the benefits and stability of the public sector initially attracted millennials, the opportunity to work in an innovative department with a supervisor who acted as a change agent and listened to their ideas while providing feedback was important to them. </p><p> <b>Conclusions and Recommendations</b>: If the public sector is to attract, motivate, and retain millennials, leaders must adopt a positive and open attitude toward this generational group while ensuring an innovative and engaging environment. Millennials, accused of being disloyal to organizations, were more likely to remain in their public- sector positions if they felt valued. This study could be replicated longitudinally to explore the attitudes and beliefs of millennials as they age or enter another life or career stage to determine if changes could be attributed to age or life or career stage rather than tied to their specific generation.</p><p>

<p> Networks are the connective tissue tying together individuals and organizations working toward shared aims. Increasingly, communities are adopting network-based strategies to collaboratively contend with society&rsquo;s most vexing challenges and create lasting community change. This often occurs when addressing problems that are more complex and entangled than any one individual or organization can tackle on their own, such as education reform, affordable housing, or income inequality. </p><p> Individuals who assume leadership roles within networks&mdash;the researcher refers to these people as <i>network leaders</i>&mdash;must identify effective strategies to activate network members and unlock agency within stakeholders to empower them to contribute to a shared mission. This study specifically focused on research subjects who were professionally engaged as network leaders, and sought to uncover characteristics that network leaders exhibit and strategies that network leaders employ when performing their unique role. </p><p> The findings of this Constructivist Grounded Theory study center around the primary research question: How do network leaders catalyze collective action? The theory of network leadership proposed herein is derived from data collected from 27 network leaders. The model creates a framework for understanding the phenomenon of network leadership. The <i>Phases and Critical Tasks </i> of network leadership are moderated by the <i>Network Leadership Core Engagement Process</i> and the <i>Network Culture</i>, which is in turn influenced by the <i>Characteristics of the Network Leader Profile</i> and collaboratively developed <i>Network Agreements </i>. The theoretical model is grounded in the data and designed to be an accessible framework for understanding how network leaders catalyze collective action.</p><p>

<p> In an era of continuing economic uncertainty public sector organizations face unprecedented challenges in resourcing increasingly complex missions. To meet these challenges public sector managers must look for innovative ways to resource essential missions and define public sector outcomes. The use of collaboration to create public value represents one way to provide effective and efficient service in this environment. </p><p> This study informs the subject of <i>collaboration</i> as a mechanism for creating public value by considering these concepts as a practical matter against actual events or programs involving the California Highway Patrol, a large State police agency with multiple missions and complex inter-agency relationships. The results of the study demonstrate a correlation between the strength of the collaborative effort and the results obtained, as well as the effect of circumstances on results. In identifying a common formula for evaluating these concepts, other public programs can be evaluated based on these contexts.</p>

<p> With up to 50 percent of principals exiting prematurely in some localities, based on research-established norms, there is an immediate need to explore and understand principal attrition. While principals have an indirect role in student achievement, mediate by others such as teachers and other instructional leaders, the role is important. The principal is a potential leverage point that policy makers, local and otherwise, can utilize to have the greatest impact on teaching and learning and thus student outcomes, particularly with financial and human resource decisions. This grounded theory study used snowball sampling to identify and engage with ten former principals in the United States with semi-structured interviews. The aim was to explore the experiences and exit decision-making process of former educators who served five years or fewer as principal. There were four major findings in this research: (1) knowledge constructed during anticipatory socialization plays a key role in the later decision to exit the role; (2) educators rely heavily on personal interactions with peers and supervisors to create an idealized image of the role and expectations for day-to-day functioning as a principal; (3) there is no single cause for exit, rather educators experienced a series of compounding, unanticipated tasks they were unprepared for; and (4) exit from the principalship follows a linear path found in the pre-established role-exit process.</p>

<p> An investigation into the relationship of organizational climate and academic optimism as predictors of student achievement and school effectiveness was conducted. De-identified secondary data from 67 elementary schools in the Northern portion of Alabama were used. The instrumentation for this study included School Academic Optimism Survey (SAOS), Organizational Climate Index (OCI), the Index of Perceived Organizational Effectiveness (IPOE) which is now known as the SE Index (School Effectiveness Index), a composite score for Academic Achievement (AA), and socioeconomic status (SES). Ordinary Least Squares Block Regression method was used to test the effects of the independent variables separately and together on school effectiveness and academic achievement. The results suggested that all variables had a moderate correlation with each other. Also, when controlling for SES both optimism and climate served as independent predictors for achievement and effectiveness. When entered into a regression model together while controlling for SES, climate predicted achievement while optimism did not. This was likely due to the small sample size as compared to the number of predictors in the model. Both climate and optimism served as predictors for effectiveness when in the regression model. The results of this study lend further support to the importance of School Academic Optimism and Organizational Climate as predictors of academic achievement and organizational effectiveness.</p>

<p> This qualitative research study examined detailed reports by senior organizational leaders linking mindfulness to improved leadership effectiveness. Extensive research supports the existence of a relationship between mindfulness and cognitive, physiological, and psychological benefits that may also have a positive impact on leadership effectiveness. Currently, however, little is known about the processes potentially enabling mindfulness to directly influence leadership effectiveness, and as a result this study was designed to explore this gap in the literature. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with forty-two organizational leaders in North and South America and Europe, many with a history of leadership roles at multiple global organizations. Participants credited mindfulness for contributing to enduring improvements to leadership capabilities, and data analysis revealed new findings clarifying the perceived relationship between mindfulness and tangible results for organizational leaders. Specifically, the results indicate that mindfulness is perceived to contribute to the development of behaviors and changes to awareness associated with improved leadership effectiveness. A potential relationship between mindfulness and the development of emotional intelligence competencies linked to increased leadership performance was revealed as well. The contribution of this study to current literature is also discussed, as are recommendations for future research.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> mindfulness, organizational leadership, emotional intelligence, leadership effectiveness, leadership development, mindful leadership, leader empathy, leader emotional self-awareness, leader emotional self-management, leader social awareness, leader relationship management</p>

<p> Organization Development (OD) has been used in a variety of ways to improve organizations both large and small. Interestingly, the institutions that teach and conduct research on organizations have been slow to adopt or utilize OD approaches and practices in their own institutions. This dissertation will use a thematic meta-synthesis approach to examine the case studies that have been conducted in which OD initiatives have been used in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) between 2000 and 2015. It will look to synthesize the main themes of these case studies in an effort to create a new grounded theory of OD practice for HEIs. The study looked at 34 case studies (12 articles and 22 dissertations) that took place at a mixture of public and private universities and colleges in the United States from 2000 to 2015. Using a qualitative thematic meta-synthesis approach allowed the research to uncover the prevailing themes and discuss in a macro sense how OD has been applied to HEIs.</p>

<p> This study was conducted independently, but in collaboration with a team of peer-researchers who came together to study the lived experience of exemplar leaders in diverse organizations as they transformed conflict to reach common ground. This study contributed to the collective work by looking at K-12 Human Resource Officers (HROs) as the population of interest. HROs are often at the center of resolving conflict, yet only a few emerge as exemplar leaders. These exemplar leaders were the target population situated in the phenomena under investigations. The team selected a qualitative phenomenological approach, in an attempt to uncover what strategies exemplar leaders used to transform conflict to find common ground using the six domains of conflict transformation behaviors: collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence, ethics, processes, and problem-solving. Evidence showed that exemplar leaders tended to integrate these domains, rather than using them separately, for a more powerful impact in transforming conflict and finding common ground. Interviews, observations, and artifact data identified shared practices and behaviors to represent a more powerful repertoire of conflict transformational skills.</p>