William L Gardner
Biographic Data
| ID | 4004950 |
|---|---|
| NAME | William L Gardner |
| GIVEN NAMES | William L |
| FAMILY NAME | Gardner |
| SIGNATURE | GARDNER W L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Texas Tech University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4694-9951 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 33 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1983 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Understanding the charismatic relationship
Throughout time, charismatic leaders have aroused the curiosity of potential and actual followers. There exists a mystique about the many methods, ranging from forceful to subliminal, that they adopt to influence followers. This article employs a dramaturgical approach to examine how gifted leaders use impression management behaviors to create and maintain charismatic relationships with followers. Also discussed are the behaviors of framing, scri…
Benevolent Leadership as an Antecedent and Moderator of Ostracism
Despite three decades of ostracism research, scholars have rarely examined its antecedents or benevolent leadership's role in workplace ostracism. Drawing on benevolent leadership theory, we propose that leader benevolence and employee neuroticism serve as predictors of perceived ostracism, with benevolent leadership also moderating the neuroticism-ostracism relationship. Using a three-wave sample of 172 matched superior-subordinate dyads from th…
Leadership Emergence
Leadership emergence is an inherently dynamic process whereby certain individuals come to be seen as leaders by others, some of whom will choose to follow them. The circumstances under which leadership emergence occurs depend on the persons involved, their interactions, and the context. Yet leadership research has too often viewed leadership emergence from a static and entity perspective, where some individuals are assumed to have qualities that …
The impostor phenomenon at work
The impostor phenomenon (IP) was originally identified over 40 years ago, and there has been a recent surge in its examination across domains of management research. However, a lack of a comprehensive review that synthesizes organizationally‐relevant IP research has left IP research dispersed across time and disciplines with diminished conceptual clarity and an incoherent nomological network. We address these shortcomings by conducting a systemat…
The gaslighting of authentic leadership
In a recent critique of authentic leadership theory, Einola and Alvesson (2021) assert that the theory “is not only wrong in a harmless way, but it may be outright perilous to leadership scholars, scholarship, and those who believe in it” (p. 483). They describe four “perils” of authentic leadership theory to support their arguments; in this response paper, we address each “peril”. Unfortunately, their criticism is based, in part, on misleading a…
The gaslighting of authentic leadership revisited
Authentic leadership theory (ALT) has become the target for considerable criticism of its conceptual grounding and the methods used for its empirical investigation. Mats Alvesson and Katja Einola (2019) have led the charge in advancing skepticism about ALT by warning of the pitfalls of excessive positivity in leadership research, using ALT as an illustrative example. In a subsequent exchange of letters, the cases against and for authentic leaders…
Thought experiments
Thought experiments are defined by Aguinis et al. as “judgments about what would happen if an imagined scenario were real.” They demonstrated through a multidisciplinary literature review that thought experiments have been used productively to generate and test theory in a wide variety of fields, including psychology, economics, medicine, sociology, marketing, and finance. Despite their utility, they concluded that thought experiments are vastly …
Authentic leadership theory
The missing link? Implications of internal, external, and relational attribution combinations for leader–member exchange, relationship work, self‐work, and conflict
Attributions are causal explanations made by individuals in response to important, novel, and/or unexpected events. Numerous attribution theories have examined how people use information to make attributions and how attributions impact an individual's subsequent emotions and outcomes. However, this research has only recently considered the implications of dyadic‐level attributions (i.e., relational attributions), particularly in the context of le…
Authentic Leadership
Authentic Leadership, Authentic Followership, Basic Need Satisfaction, and Work Role Performance
Authentic leadership occurs when individuals enact their true selves in their role as a leader. This article examines the role of authentic followership in the previously established relationship between authentic leadership and follower in-role and extrarole performance behaviors. Consideration of followers who enact their true selves is important to understand how authentic leadership fosters follower self-determined work motivation and thus wo…
Emotional responses of leaders to passive versus active members
In our investigation of emotion management in organizations, we shift the focus from leadership to followership. To maintain their leadership identity in leader–member relationships, leaders have to elicit emotions that are contingent on the identity of the member. As such, members play a key role in defining leadership. We apply the symbolic interactionist approach of affect control theory and its operationalization in computer simulations to in…
Not All Group Exchange Structures Are Created Equal
Electronic communications collected from 233 undergraduate business students in 50 virtual teams were coded to identify group exchange structures. Results revealed four types of structures: unified generalized (characterized by high-quality exchange relationships among group members and high information sharing and cooperation; n = 10), unified generalized with isolates (high-quality exchange among most members, with negative exchange among some …
Validating Measures of Leader Authenticity
Using a student sample in a lab setting, we examined the relationships between explicit and implicit self-esteem and two measures of leader authenticity: self-reported authentic leadership as measured by the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) and perceived leader authenticity as reflected in leadership speeches. In addition, we explored the influence of situational cues for an internal versus external focus on measures of leadership authent…
Emotional labor and leadership
Authentic Leadership
This study developed and tested a theory-based measure of authentic leadership using five separate samples obtained from China, Kenya, and the United States. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a higher order, multidimensional model of the authentic leadership construct (the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire [ALQ]) comprising leader self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing. Structural eq…
Promoting Authentic Behavior in Organizations
Building on recent theories of authentic leadership, we introduce an attributional framework for understanding authenticity. It is proposed that authenticity implies an accurate and balanced attribution style - a relationship that we argue has been overlooked in past research on authentic leadership. We also suggest that organizations can take an active role in the development of authentic leaders by making leaders aware of the factors that might…
Transition to self‐directed work teams
In the face of heightened competitive pressures, elevated quality expectations, and calls for worker empowerment, more and more organizations have turned to self‐directed work teams (SDWTs). A review of the literature devoted to SDWTs suggests that managers often struggle with the transition to SDWTs because of the required shift in control to SDWT members. To promote the development of work teams, managers must modify their use of influence tact…
The Charismatic Relationship
Impression Management in Organizations
Evidence of the process through which organizational members create and maintain desired impressions is provided by this review of social psychological and relevant management research on impression management. Propositions regarding the stimuli and the cognitive, motivational, and affective processes related to impression management and audience responses are advanced. Finally, directions forfuture research into impression management in organiza…
A methodological review of sex-related access discrimination problems
Transition to self‐directed work teams
In the face of heightened competitive pressures, elevated quality expectations, and calls for worker empowerment, more and more organizations have turned to self‐directed work teams (SDWTs). A review of the literature devoted to SDWTs suggests that managers often struggle with the transition to SDWTs because of the required shift in control to SDWT members. To promote the development of work teams, managers must modify their use of influence tact…
Promoting Authentic Behavior in Organizations
Building on recent theories of authentic leadership, we introduce an attributional framework for understanding authenticity. It is proposed that authenticity implies an accurate and balanced attribution style - a relationship that we argue has been overlooked in past research on authentic leadership. We also suggest that organizations can take an active role in the development of authentic leaders by making leaders aware of the factors that might…
The impostor phenomenon at work
The impostor phenomenon (IP) was originally identified over 40 years ago, and there has been a recent surge in its examination across domains of management research. However, a lack of a comprehensive review that synthesizes organizationally‐relevant IP research has left IP research dispersed across time and disciplines with diminished conceptual clarity and an incoherent nomological network. We address these shortcomings by conducting a systemat…
The missing link? Implications of internal, external, and relational attribution combinations for leader–member exchange, relationship work, self‐work, and conflict
Attributions are causal explanations made by individuals in response to important, novel, and/or unexpected events. Numerous attribution theories have examined how people use information to make attributions and how attributions impact an individual's subsequent emotions and outcomes. However, this research has only recently considered the implications of dyadic‐level attributions (i.e., relational attributions), particularly in the context of le…
Emotional responses of leaders to passive versus active members
In our investigation of emotion management in organizations, we shift the focus from leadership to followership. To maintain their leadership identity in leader–member relationships, leaders have to elicit emotions that are contingent on the identity of the member. As such, members play a key role in defining leadership. We apply the symbolic interactionist approach of affect control theory and its operationalization in computer simulations to in…
Validating Measures of Leader Authenticity
Using a student sample in a lab setting, we examined the relationships between explicit and implicit self-esteem and two measures of leader authenticity: self-reported authentic leadership as measured by the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) and perceived leader authenticity as reflected in leadership speeches. In addition, we explored the influence of situational cues for an internal versus external focus on measures of leadership authent…
The gaslighting of authentic leadership
In a recent critique of authentic leadership theory, Einola and Alvesson (2021) assert that the theory “is not only wrong in a harmless way, but it may be outright perilous to leadership scholars, scholarship, and those who believe in it” (p. 483). They describe four “perils” of authentic leadership theory to support their arguments; in this response paper, we address each “peril”. Unfortunately, their criticism is based, in part, on misleading a…
The gaslighting of authentic leadership revisited
Authentic leadership theory (ALT) has become the target for considerable criticism of its conceptual grounding and the methods used for its empirical investigation. Mats Alvesson and Katja Einola (2019) have led the charge in advancing skepticism about ALT by warning of the pitfalls of excessive positivity in leadership research, using ALT as an illustrative example. In a subsequent exchange of letters, the cases against and for authentic leaders…
Thought experiments
Thought experiments are defined by Aguinis et al. as “judgments about what would happen if an imagined scenario were real.” They demonstrated through a multidisciplinary literature review that thought experiments have been used productively to generate and test theory in a wide variety of fields, including psychology, economics, medicine, sociology, marketing, and finance. Despite their utility, they concluded that thought experiments are vastly …
Not All Group Exchange Structures Are Created Equal
Electronic communications collected from 233 undergraduate business students in 50 virtual teams were coded to identify group exchange structures. Results revealed four types of structures: unified generalized (characterized by high-quality exchange relationships among group members and high information sharing and cooperation; n = 10), unified generalized with isolates (high-quality exchange among most members, with negative exchange among some …
A methodological review of sex-related access discrimination problems
Impression Management in Organizations
Evidence of the process through which organizational members create and maintain desired impressions is provided by this review of social psychological and relevant management research on impression management. Propositions regarding the stimuli and the cognitive, motivational, and affective processes related to impression management and audience responses are advanced. Finally, directions forfuture research into impression management in organiza…
The Charismatic Relationship
Transition to self‐directed work teams
In the face of heightened competitive pressures, elevated quality expectations, and calls for worker empowerment, more and more organizations have turned to self‐directed work teams (SDWTs). A review of the literature devoted to SDWTs suggests that managers often struggle with the transition to SDWTs because of the required shift in control to SDWT members. To promote the development of work teams, managers must modify their use of influence tact…
Promoting Authentic Behavior in Organizations
Building on recent theories of authentic leadership, we introduce an attributional framework for understanding authenticity. It is proposed that authenticity implies an accurate and balanced attribution style - a relationship that we argue has been overlooked in past research on authentic leadership. We also suggest that organizations can take an active role in the development of authentic leaders by making leaders aware of the factors that might…
Authentic Leadership
This study developed and tested a theory-based measure of authentic leadership using five separate samples obtained from China, Kenya, and the United States. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a higher order, multidimensional model of the authentic leadership construct (the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire [ALQ]) comprising leader self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing. Structural eq…
Emotional labor and leadership
Validating Measures of Leader Authenticity
Using a student sample in a lab setting, we examined the relationships between explicit and implicit self-esteem and two measures of leader authenticity: self-reported authentic leadership as measured by the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) and perceived leader authenticity as reflected in leadership speeches. In addition, we explored the influence of situational cues for an internal versus external focus on measures of leadership authent…
Not All Group Exchange Structures Are Created Equal
Electronic communications collected from 233 undergraduate business students in 50 virtual teams were coded to identify group exchange structures. Results revealed four types of structures: unified generalized (characterized by high-quality exchange relationships among group members and high information sharing and cooperation; n = 10), unified generalized with isolates (high-quality exchange among most members, with negative exchange among some …
Emotional responses of leaders to passive versus active members
In our investigation of emotion management in organizations, we shift the focus from leadership to followership. To maintain their leadership identity in leader–member relationships, leaders have to elicit emotions that are contingent on the identity of the member. As such, members play a key role in defining leadership. We apply the symbolic interactionist approach of affect control theory and its operationalization in computer simulations to in…
Authentic Leadership
Authentic Leadership, Authentic Followership, Basic Need Satisfaction, and Work Role Performance
Authentic leadership occurs when individuals enact their true selves in their role as a leader. This article examines the role of authentic followership in the previously established relationship between authentic leadership and follower in-role and extrarole performance behaviors. Consideration of followers who enact their true selves is important to understand how authentic leadership fosters follower self-determined work motivation and thus wo…
The missing link? Implications of internal, external, and relational attribution combinations for leader–member exchange, relationship work, self‐work, and conflict
Attributions are causal explanations made by individuals in response to important, novel, and/or unexpected events. Numerous attribution theories have examined how people use information to make attributions and how attributions impact an individual's subsequent emotions and outcomes. However, this research has only recently considered the implications of dyadic‐level attributions (i.e., relational attributions), particularly in the context of le…
Authentic leadership theory
The gaslighting of authentic leadership
In a recent critique of authentic leadership theory, Einola and Alvesson (2021) assert that the theory “is not only wrong in a harmless way, but it may be outright perilous to leadership scholars, scholarship, and those who believe in it” (p. 483). They describe four “perils” of authentic leadership theory to support their arguments; in this response paper, we address each “peril”. Unfortunately, their criticism is based, in part, on misleading a…
The gaslighting of authentic leadership revisited
Authentic leadership theory (ALT) has become the target for considerable criticism of its conceptual grounding and the methods used for its empirical investigation. Mats Alvesson and Katja Einola (2019) have led the charge in advancing skepticism about ALT by warning of the pitfalls of excessive positivity in leadership research, using ALT as an illustrative example. In a subsequent exchange of letters, the cases against and for authentic leaders…
Thought experiments
Thought experiments are defined by Aguinis et al. as “judgments about what would happen if an imagined scenario were real.” They demonstrated through a multidisciplinary literature review that thought experiments have been used productively to generate and test theory in a wide variety of fields, including psychology, economics, medicine, sociology, marketing, and finance. Despite their utility, they concluded that thought experiments are vastly …
Leadership Emergence
Leadership emergence is an inherently dynamic process whereby certain individuals come to be seen as leaders by others, some of whom will choose to follow them. The circumstances under which leadership emergence occurs depend on the persons involved, their interactions, and the context. Yet leadership research has too often viewed leadership emergence from a static and entity perspective, where some individuals are assumed to have qualities that …
The impostor phenomenon at work
The impostor phenomenon (IP) was originally identified over 40 years ago, and there has been a recent surge in its examination across domains of management research. However, a lack of a comprehensive review that synthesizes organizationally‐relevant IP research has left IP research dispersed across time and disciplines with diminished conceptual clarity and an incoherent nomological network. We address these shortcomings by conducting a systemat…
Benevolent Leadership as an Antecedent and Moderator of Ostracism
Despite three decades of ostracism research, scholars have rarely examined its antecedents or benevolent leadership's role in workplace ostracism. Drawing on benevolent leadership theory, we propose that leader benevolence and employee neuroticism serve as predictors of perceived ostracism, with benevolent leadership also moderating the neuroticism-ostracism relationship. Using a three-wave sample of 172 matched superior-subordinate dyads from th…
Understanding the charismatic relationship
Throughout time, charismatic leaders have aroused the curiosity of potential and actual followers. There exists a mystique about the many methods, ranging from forceful to subliminal, that they adopt to influence followers. This article employs a dramaturgical approach to examine how gifted leaders use impression management behaviors to create and maintain charismatic relationships with followers. Also discussed are the behaviors of framing, scri…
Psychology (18 works) · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior (15 works) · Social Psychology (14 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Political science (9 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Authentic leadership (7 works) · Emotional Intelligence and Performance (5 works)