Developing Perceived and Experienced Identity. How leadership training affects leadership identity

TY - JOUR

T1 - Developing Perceived and Experienced Identity. How leadership training affects leadership identity

AU - Grøn, Caroline Howard

AU - Andersen, Lotte Bøgh

PY - 2024/6

Y1 - 2024/6

N2 - Research shows that leadership identity is important for public managers’ behavior, but has until now relied primarily on self-reports. Arguing that leadership identity is a relational concept, this article compares the managers’ experienced leadership identity with the corresponding follower perceived leadership identity and followers’ role perceptions of their leaders. Further, we test whether leadership training affects these concepts. Panel data from 911 municipal employees and their 84 managers confirms that managers experience that they have a more dominant leadership identity relative to their employees’ perception, but that employees see their managers as having a more dominant leadership identity after the managers’ participation in leadership training. Data from 171 managers and their 1,572 employees in another municipality further show that many employees emphasize the professional role of their manager. Our study implies that public managers should consider prioritizing leadership training to strengthen their followers’ perceptions of them as leaders.

AB - Research shows that leadership identity is important for public managers’ behavior, but has until now relied primarily on self-reports. Arguing that leadership identity is a relational concept, this article compares the managers’ experienced leadership identity with the corresponding follower perceived leadership identity and followers’ role perceptions of their leaders. Further, we test whether leadership training affects these concepts. Panel data from 911 municipal employees and their 84 managers confirms that managers experience that they have a more dominant leadership identity relative to their employees’ perception, but that employees see their managers as having a more dominant leadership identity after the managers’ participation in leadership training. Data from 171 managers and their 1,572 employees in another municipality further show that many employees emphasize the professional role of their manager. Our study implies that public managers should consider prioritizing leadership training to strengthen their followers’ perceptions of them as leaders.

KW - leadership identity

KW - leadership training

KW - public leadership

KW - public management

KW - self-other agreement

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147737598&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0734371X221146718

DO - 10.1177/0734371X221146718

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0734-371X

VL - 44

SP - 268

EP - 294

JO - Review of Public Personnel Administration

JF - Review of Public Personnel Administration

IS - 2

ER -