JMO Special Issue Call for Papers
Authentic Leadership: 20-Year Review
Guest Editors:
Kevin Lowe, PhD, The University of Sydney, kevin.b.lowe@sydney.edu.au
Andrei Lux
Deadline for Submissions: 30th June 2024
The most recent Special Issue on authentic leadership was published in Leadership and edited by Iszatt-White et al. (2021). Their focus echoed the times, following the critique by Alvesson and Einola (2019) and the subsequent exchange between Gardner et al. (2021) in The Leadership Quarterly, which set the scene for an impassioned critical retrospective of the shortcomings of authentic leadership theory. There was an appetite for this kind of work at the time but given the critical and backward-looking emphases of the Special Issue, it did more to encourage scholars to reconsider the merits of authentic leadership, than it did to advance the field.
Aims and Scope of the Special Issue
20-Years after The Leadership Quarterly Special Issue (Avolio & Gardner, 2005) that launched a new field of research we are curating a state-of-the-science review that will take stock of the work that has been done, the challenges that remain, and that will set a future research agenda.
The Special Issue will first appraise dispassionately the work that has been done thus far in the field, for example with a systematic review to organize the field. Exploring what levels of analysis scholars have adopted, what theories have been used to explain effects, where samples have been drawn, what does the current nomological network include and so on.
The Special Issue will next set a future research agenda across the handful of remaining papers that each tackle an element of the problem and suggest concrete ways forward for (re)development. For example, by reviewing:
- How do we define authentic leadership;
- What are the dimensions of authentic leadership,
- Whether existing instruments are fit for purpose;
- Dispelling the authentic leadership hero myth; or
- Unpacking authentic leadership development mechanisms.
We intend for this outline to serve as inspiration, rather than an exhaustive list, and we will readily consider relevant manuscripts that review authentic leadership from different perspectives. For example, an emotions view, an implicit leadership theory view, an identity view, an attribution theory view, etc. We encourage each contribution to propose a handful of compelling avenues for future research.
Authentic leadership theory is hotly debated in the field and research interest is on a strong upward trend, supported by a burgeoning of empirical contributions. Critical perspectives have done little to stem the production of authentic leadership research and the popularity of the construct continues to increase. The time is right to launch a Special Issue that’s positively framed and will help shape inevitable future contributions by guiding scholars’ efforts towards identifying and resolving the challenges facing authentic leadership theory.
Business leaders and organizational practitioners the world over have strongly taken to authentic leadership. Authors contributing to the Special Issue are invited to outline key implications for leaders and management practice generally, such that the Special Issue can make a meaningful contribution to industry in helping shape the development of a dominant leadership style.
Featured Methodological Approaches
We welcome both conceptual and empirical contributions to the Special Issue, including systematic reviews and primary studies. The preference will be for review articles that organize the field from particular perspectives or that tackle specific problems, and then propose concrete and actionable future research directions.
Statement of Best Fit to JMO
The Journal of Management & Organization is an emerging outlet for management research across Australia and New Zealand, with an increasingly international outlook. Several conversations about authentic leadership are currently ongoing in JMO, including contributions by the Guest Editors (e.g., Cheng et al., 2022; Kalay et al., 2020; Lowe, 2019; Lux et al., 2023; Miller et al., 2020; Yıkılmaz & Sürücü, 2023). We would encourage contributions to the Special Issue that can tap into such topical discussions.
Important Dates:
1 November 2023 – Submissions Open
30 June 2024 – Submissions Deadline
Mid 2025 – Special Issue Published
Manuscripts must comply with the Journal of Management & Organization (JMO) paper guidelines, and must be submitted through ScholarOne: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jmo
About the Guest Editors
Professor Kevin Lowe
Kevin B. Lowe is a Professor in Leadership in the Business School at The University of Sydney. Kevin is a recognized thought-leader in the field of leadership and currently contributes to several leading editorial boards, including The Leadership Quarterly (Yearly Review Editor), Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Leadership, and Journal of World Business. His research has garnered a number of awards including twice winning the Best Paper of the Year Award from The Leadership Quarterly, the Article of the Decade Award from the Journal of International Business Studies, and the Decennial Influential Article Award from The Leadership Quarterly. In 2017 he received an Emerald Citation of Excellence, recognizing articles of high impact over the most recent three years (2014-2016), for his review and extension of the field of followership.
Dr Andrei Lux
Andrei A. Lux is a Lecturer of Leadership and a Research Cluster Leader at the School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University (ECU). Andrei’s research is about authentic leadership, cross-cultural leadership, and positive organizational behavior. In 2020 he received the Best Article by an Early Career Researcher award at Edith Cowan University and was recognized in 2021 as the Associate Editor of the Year at the Journal of Management & Organization. Andrei heads the Leadership & People Research Cluster at ECU, and serves as an Associate Editor at the Journal of Management & Organization, as well as Director, Treasurer, and Research Committee Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM). Previously, Andrei was the ANZAM Conference Chair (2020-2021), Stream Chair of Organizational Behaviour (2018-2022), and the Director of Academic Studies at ECU (2023).
References
Alvesson, M., & Einola, K. (2019). Warning for excessive positivity: Authentic leadership and other traps in leadership studies. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(4), 383-395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.04.001
Avolio, B. J. & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315-338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001
Cheng, J., Usman, M., Bai, H., & He, Y. (2022). Can authentic leaders reduce the spread of negative workplace gossip? The roles of subordinates' perceived procedural justice and interactional justice. Journal of Management & Organization, 28(1), 9-32. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2021.32
Gardner, W. L., Karam, E. P., Alvesson, M., & Einola, K. (2021). Authentic leadership theory: The case for and against. The Leadership Quarterly, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101495
Iszatt-White, M., Carroll, B., Gardiner, R. A., & Kempster, S. (2021). Leadership special issue: Do we need authentic leadership? Interrogating authenticity in a new world order. Leadership, 17(4), 389-394. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150211000153
Kalay, E., Brender-Ilan, Y., & Kantor, J. (2020). Authentic leadership outcomes in detail-oriented occupations: Commitment, role-stress, and intentions to leave. Journal of Management & Organization, 29(1), 103-121. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2018.8
Lowe, K. B. (2019). The authentic classroom. Journal of Management & Organization, 25(3), 445-452. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.41
Lux, A. A., Grover, S. L., & Teo, S. T. T. (2023) Reframing commitment in authentic leadership: Untangling relationship-outcome processes. Journal of Management & Organization, 29(1), 103-121. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.78
Mille, E., Devlin, N., Buys, L. & Donoghue, G. (2020). The happiness initiative: Changing organizational culture to make 'brilliance' mainstream in aged care. Journal of Management & Organization, 26(3), 296-308. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.59
Yıkılmaz, İ., & Sürücü, L. (2023). Leader–member exchange as a mediator of the relationship between authentic leadership and employee creativity. Journal of Management & Organization, 29(1), 159-172. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2021.23