Due to today’s digital transformation, traditional ways of communication are increasingly replaced by virtual and digital communication channels. The challenge for leaders in this digital environment is consequently to reach out to their followers to the same extent as in physical meetings. Leadership is about influencing people to strive towards a desired direction and leaders’ aims are thereby to impact their followers both cognitively but also emotionally in order to stimulate motivation. Emotional intelligence revolves around the necessity of understanding and reading others’ emotions and how to act upon that in order to successfully interact with others. By reason of the current Covid-19 pandemic, we have the rare opportunity to explore the interaction between leaders and followers during the time of a global pandemic and understand how the accompanying social distance may impact the emotional aspects in leadership. The research question for this thesis is thereby: How can emotional value be created in the interaction between leaders and followers in today's digitalized world? The theoretical framework that constitutes the basis of the thesis is divided into four main concepts which are: the relational perspective of leadership, emotional intelligence, creating emotional value and the digital transformation in the business world. The study has an exploratory purpose and is of a qualitative approach. In order to collect empirical data, semi-structured interviews were held with eight participants whereof four leaders and four followers. The findings could be divided into four themes which are: Human touch and individual need, Social skills and individual adaptation, Work satisfaction and motivation and Future strategies. The result of the study shows that emotional value is highly important in the interaction between leaders and followers in order to maintain engagement, satisfaction and motivation in a digital work environment. The conclusion is however that emotional value indeed can be created through digital communication but that it has to be created in a quite different way than in physical meetings.

Despite a great deal of interest in leadership as a field of study, little research has been conducted on what followers want from their leaders. Furthermore, the relationship between follower ethnicity and their view on leadership has been largely neglected. This study therefore sought to investigate how followers perceive effective leadership and, therefore, what they expect from good leaders. The study also sought to investigate what influence, if any, a follower’s ethnicity has on their understanding of effective leadership. The study adopted a qualitative, phenomenological methodological approach to address the research purposes. Semi structured interviews were conducted with a sample of seven black South African undergraduate students in Gauteng. This sample was selected to avoid including individuals who may have had formal exposure to leadership theory or significant experience as leaders in organizations. The discussions were recorded and transcribed, before being captured in Atlas.ti. Thematic coding was carried out to analyse the data. The findings of the study showed that respondents valued follower-centric leadership, with a particular emphasis on leaders listening to followers. Other good leadership behaviours highlighted by respondents included communication and values. Respondents indicated that their views on leadership were influenced by their cultures. It was not possible to isolate the influence of a specific ethnic identity on perceptions of leadership because respondents were able to identify with more than one ethnic identity, referred to as biculturalism. Biculturalism tended to occur as a result of a respondent having parents from different ethnicities, growing up in a multi-ethnic township or exposure through multicultural institutions such as schools and churches. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Leaders focus on the attainment of personal and organizational goals without consideration for the needs of stakeholders, especially those of followers. Ethical leadership (EL) studies' focus on leaders' perspectives represented a research gap that necessitated this study. Followers are the least researched among stakeholders; thus, this study explored EL from their viewpoints. Stakeholder theory, social learning theory, eudaimonia, and utilitarianism were the conceptual frameworks that guided this study. Twenty participants drawn from followers in a public organization in New Jersey were questioned about their experiences and expectations of EL using open-ended interview questions. Participants with shared experiences were selected based on convenience, snowball, and criterion sampling strategies. With the use of the transcendental phenomenological design, the data collected were analyzed with the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method and the two-cycle analysis. Knowledge, exemplarity, and democratic decision making were themes of EL that are relevant to followers. Other themes found in this study, including communication, stakeholders' wellbeing, impartiality, honesty, relationship building, responsibility, and humility, concur with extant literature and suggest consistency in the phenomenon. The potential social change implications of this study are an innovative and cooperative work environment, organizational success, and enhanced corporate social responsibility. Organizations and societies may benefit from the inculcation and development of EL in the family, society, tertiary institutions, and organizations through training, mentoring, and the development of an ethical culture.

[pt] A moralidade e o equilíbrio de um líder, bem como sua positividade, são pressupostos teóricos centrais na teoria da liderança autêntica. Tomando esses pressupostos como objeto de estudo, a presente pesquisa investiga empiricamente o impacto de princípios autênticos no discurso de um líder e da sua expressão de emoções na percepção de eficácia na liderança, por meio de dois experimentos. O primeiro estudo investigou o efeito do discurso autêntico nos julgamentos de seguidores de diferentes áreas ocupacionais sobre a liderança. Os resultados indicam que o endosso a princípios da liderança autêntica no discurso de um líder influencia positivamente a percepção de eficácia na liderança. Porém, esse efeito é significativamente menor entre profissionais das áreas de Finanças e de Marketing/Vendas. O segundo experimento investigou a influência da expressão de emoções positivas e negativas nos julgamentos sobre a eficácia de um líder que endossa valores autênticos. Os resultados evidenciaram que a expressão de afetividade negativa (tristeza/desânimo) influenciou negativamente a percepção de eficácia na liderança. Porém, a expressão de afetividade positiva (alegria/ânimo) não influenciou positivamente esta percepção. Esses achados são discutidos quanto às suas implicações teóricas, e, sobretudo, práticas. / [en] Morality, balance of a leader and his positivity, are central theoretical assumptions in the theory of authentic leadership. Taking these assumptions as object of study, this research empirically investigates the impact of authentic principles in the speech of a leader and the expression of emotions in the perception of leadership effectiveness through two experiments. The first study investigated the effect of authentic speech in the judgements of followers from different occupational areas on the leadership. The results indicate that the endorsement of principles of authentic leadership in the speech of a leader influences positively the perception of leadership effectiveness. However, this effect is significantly lower among professionals in Finance and Marketing/Sales areas. The second experiment investigated the influence of the expression of positive and negative emotions in the trials on the effectiveness of a leader who endorse authentic values. The results showed that the negative affectivity expression (sadness/depression) influenced negatively the perception of leadership effectiveness. However, the positive affect expression (happiness/enthusiasm) not influence positively this perception. These findings are discussed to show their theoretical, and, above all, practical implications.

Background: Leadership is and will continue to be a current topic in today's society, and the relationship between a leader and its subordinate will continuously change through time. This study aims to investigate to what extent a leader is transformational according to the employees, within the recruitment industry, and also what relationship it has to employees' internal and external motivation. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional study has been carried out in a recruitment company in Stockholm, Sweden. Respondents contacted through email and group chats and were then presented the survey. 50 respondents participated in the survey with no internal dropout. Transformational leadership was measured with Developmental Leadership Questionnaire (DLQ) by Gerry Larsson and motivation with Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS) by Maxime A. Tremblay, Ce ́line M. Blanchard, Martin Villeneuve Sara Taylor, and Luc G. Pelletier. . Results: The results indicate a positive relationship between transformational leadership and employees' internal motivation. Due to an unacceptable Cronbach’s alpha value, extrinsic motivation was considered to be unreliable and was therefore excluded from the analysis in this study.  Discussion: It has been proven from various studies around the world that transformational leadership has a positive impact on followers' intrinsic motivation. The results from the respondents in this study showed a moderate relationship between the variables. In order to establish more clear conclusions about the connection between the variables, it requires a broader selection of respondents. Lastly, we offer suggestions for future resarch on this topic. / Bakgrund: Ledarskap är och kommer fortsättningsvis vara ett aktuellt ämne i dagens samhälle. Relationen mellan en ledare och en följare kommer kontinuerligt att förändras över tid. Denna uppsats ämnar att undersöka till vilken utsträckning ledare inom rekryteringsbranschen är transformativa enligt sina medarbetare och vilken påverkan det har på deras inre och yttre motivation. Metod: En kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie har genomförts på ett rekryteringsbolag i Stockholm, Sverige. Respondenter kontaktades via email och Microsoft Teams där de blev inbjudna till att svara på webbenkäten. Totalt svarade 50 respondenter på enkäten, varav inga interna bortfall. Transformativt ledarskap mättes med mätinstrumentet “Developmental Leadership Questionnaire” (DLQ) av Larsson. G och inre och yttre motivation med “Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale” (WEIMS) av Maxime A. Tremblay, Ce ́line M. Blanchard, Martin Villeneuve Sara Taylor, och Luc G. Pelletier.  Resultat: Resultatet indikerade på ett positivt samband mellan transformativt ledarskap och medarbetarnas inre motivation. På grund av ett oacceptabelt värde på Cronbach’s alpha ansågs den yttre motivationen inte vara pålitlig och uteslöts därmed från analysen i denna studie.  Diskussion: Det har visat sig från olika studier runt om i världen att transformativt ledarskap har en positiv inverkan på medarbetarnas inre motivation. Resultaten från denna studien visade på ett måttligt positivt samband mellan variablerna. För att kunna dra mer generella slutsatser om sambandet mellan variablerna krävs det ett bredare urval av respondenter. Slutligen, framför vi förslag på vidare studier inom detta ämne.

yes / In recent years, there has been increasing concern about unethical conduct within corporate business, not least because of the scandalous behaviour of former chief executives at top blue chip companies such as Enron, Worldcom, Parmalat and Volkswagen. These scandals have not only threatened the privileged position of senior corporate employees but also the solvency of the companies they manage and lead. The high profile cases of corporate crime and corruption that occurred in the early 2000s together with the 2008 Wall Street bailouts (Sorokin 2010) and the growth in criminal prosecutions since (Garrett 2014) have raised the profile of business ethics to an unprecedented level. Greater public sensitivity towards and awareness about the unlawful and immoral conduct of firms in the United States and elsewhere, has created demand for organizations to become more accountable and socially responsible and prompted greater regulatory scrutiny. It has also served to highlight the embryonic (Ciulla 2005) and delimited (Freidland 2012) state of research and scholarship on business ethics, where the focus has tended to remain on leadership (Kellerman 2012). A neglected, though important, line of ethical enquiry concerns followership (Kellerman, 2008). Corporate wrongdoing would be less formidable and extensive if it was not aided and abetted. Two key questions arise. First, what prompts followers to support rather than oppose bad leaders? Second, what can be done to stem or at least curtail their allegiance to bad leaders?

No / Leadership has proved impossible to define, despite decades of research and a huge number of publications. This article explores managers’ accounts of leadership, and shows that they find it difficult to talk about the topic, offering brief definitions but very little narrative. That which was said/sayable provides insights into what was unsaid/ unsayable. Queer theory facilitates exploration of that which is difficult to talk about, and applying it to the managers’ talk allows articulation of their lay theory of leadership. This is that leaders evoke a homoerotic desire in followers such that followers are seduced into achieving organizational goals. The leader’s body, however, is absent from the scene of seduction, so organizational heteronormativity remains unchallenged. The article concludes by arguing that queer and critical leadership theorists together could turn leadership into a reverse discourse and towards a politics of pleasure at work.

Female camp followers throughout history have followed troops into the field fulfilling supply and labor needs which the military structure could not. This pattern began to change during the American Revolution as governments and military commanders tightened their control on the military. Emerging army patterns and new attitudes concerning women acted to discourage the informal reliance on women and to encourage a more formal and controllable reliance on military units. By examining women with regular army groups, a stronger understanding of these women's lives and choices becomes possible. This study examines the number of women involved, the reasons they chose to follow military troops, the life they found with the military, and military commanders' attempts to control women and their behavior. Between five thousand and twenty thousand women traveled with military forces during the Revolution for reasons of economic need, a sense of duty, and love. They cleaned, cooked, nursed, and helped in gun crews for occasional pay, rations, and the chance to stay with their husbands, sons, and male friends. Disease, childbirth complications, and violence within and outside camp claimed their lives. Meanwhile, military leaders issued orders against straggling, riding the wagons, looting, and the illegal sale of alcohol in an effort to control the women's behavior. Such efforts only achieved intermittent success. / Master of Arts

This diploma thesis deals with a phenomenon of influencers - specifically how do these producers of media content perceive their audience. The goal of this diploma thesis is to identify and understand the behavior and culture of followers from the perspective of influencers in the context of media literacy. Nowadays anyone with an internet connection can become a follower of an influencer and basic knowledge about the cyberspace is not necessary. Thanks to the qualitative research among six different influencers this diploma thesis does offer theoretical and empirical point of view on a behavior, culture and media literacy of a young digital audience. The first part of the diploma thesis is dedicated to theoretical knowledge related to the digital audience, internet and danger that comes with the usage of cyberspace as well as media literacy in the context of a new media. The next part focuses on the interpretation of the methodology of research, followed by the presentation of results of the conducted research and their summary. Based on the research the author found out that participating influencers are aware of a connection between their behavior and hobbies and behavior and hobbies of their influencers. Subjects of the research perceive their audience in a positive way, their feedback is important to...

En ny generation har etablerat sig på arbetsmarknaden med andra egenskaper och förväntningar på ledarskap än generationerna innan. Studiens syfte blev därmed att undersöka chefers erfarenheter av att leda medarbetare som tillhör generation Y, i förhållande till andra generationer. Frågeställningarna berörde vad chefer anser kännetecknar generation Y som medarbetare samt hur chefer upplever sitt ledarskap i förhållande till generation Y. Studiens resultat analyserades i relation till teori om situationsanpassat ledarskap samt efterföljarskap. Metoden bestod av kvalitativa intervjuer tillsammans med chefer på organisationer inom olika branscher i en större stad i Sverige. Resultatet visar att generation Y som medarbetare upplevs vara självcentrerade och flexibla samt ha krav på utveckling, ett personligt ledarskap och att bli tilldelade meningsfulla arbetsuppgifter. De beskrivs också ha egenskaper som passar organisationen de arbetar för och en osäkerhet ifall deras egenskaper beror på deras ålder eller generation uttrycks. Chefer beskriver sitt ledarskap i relation till generation Y som att det fokuserar på individens och kontextens behov genom att bygga upp en relation till generation Y som medarbetare. / A new generation has established itself on the labor market with other characteristics and expectations of leadership than the generations before. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate managers’ experiences of leading employees who belong to Generation Y, i relation to other generations. The research questions covered what managers consider represents Generation Y as employees and how managers experience their leadership in relation to Generation Y. The study's results were analyzed in relation to theory about situational leadership in relation to theory about leaders’ followers. The method consisted of qualitative interviews of managers at organizations within different line of business in a larger city in Sweden. The results show that Generation Y as employees are considered to be self-centered and flexible, also to have demands on development, a personal leadership and to be assigned meaningful tasks. They are also described to have qualities that are suitable for the organization they work for and an uncertainty about whether their characteristics is because of their age or generation is expressed. Managers describe their leadership in relation to Generation Y as that it focuses on the needs of the individual and the context by building up a relationship with Generation Y as an employee.