Cognitive mapping the topic of leadership

Cognitive mapping the topic of leadership

Joseph Kim-keung Ho

Independent Trainer

Hong Kong, China

Abstract: The topic of leadership in the subject of business management is complex. By making use of the cognitive mapping technique to conduct a brief literature review on the leadership topic, the writer renders a systemic image on the topic of leadership. The result of the study, in the form of a cognitive map on leadership, should be useful to those who are interested in the topics of cognitive mapping, literature review and leadership.

Key words: leadership, cognitive mapping, literature review

Introduction

As a topic in business management, leadership is complex. It is thus useful to employ some learning tool to conduct its study, notably for literature review purpose. For a teacher in research methods, systems thinking and management, the writer is specifically interested in finding out how the cognitive mapping technique can be employed to go through a literature review on  leadership. This literature review exercise is taken up and reported in this article.

On the cognitive mapping exercise for literature review

Literature review is an important intellectual learning exercise, and not just for doing final year dissertation projects for tertiary education students. On these two topics of intellectual learning and literature review, the writer has compiled some e-learning resources. They are the Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page and the Literature on literature review Facebook page. Conducting literature review with the cognitive mapping technique is not novel in the cognitive mapping literature, see Eden and Simpson (1989), Eden, Jones and Sims (1983), Open University (n.d) and the Literature on cognitive mapping Facebook page. In this article, the specific steps involved in the cognitive mapping exercise are as follows:

Step 1: gather some main points from a number of academic journal articles on leadership. This result in the production of a table (Table 1) with the main points and associated references.

Step 2: consolidate  the main points from Table 1 to come up with a table listing the cognitive map variables (re: Table 2).

Step 3: link up the cognitive  map variables in a plausible way to produce a cognitive map (re: Figure 1) on the topic under review.

The next section applies these three steps to produce a cognitive map on leadership.

Descriptions of cognitive map variables on the leadership topic

From the reading of some academic articles on leadership, a number of main points (e.g., viewpoints, concepts and empirical findings) were gathered by the  writer. They are shown in Table 1 with explicit referencing on the points.

Table 1: Main points from the leadership literature and referencing

Main points from the leadership literature	Referencing
Point 1: "What distinguishes great leaders from merely good ones?.... It's emotional intelligence [EI]: a group of five skills  that enable the best leaders to maximize their own and their followers'  performance...  The EI skills are: . Self-awareness.... .Self-regulation ....  .Motivation...   .Empathy.....  .Social skill".	Goleman, D. 2011. "What Makes a Leader?" Harvard Business School Publishing On Leadership: HBR's 10 must reads, pp: 1-21, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.
Point 2: "Companies today face.... adaptive challenges. Changes in societies, markets, customers, competition, and technology around the globe are forcing organizations to clarify their values, develop new strategies and learn new ways of operating. Often the toughest task for  leaders in effecting change is mobilizing people throughout the organization to do adaptive work".	Heiftez, R.A. and D.L. Laurie. 2011 "The Work of Leadership" Harvard Business School Publishing On Leadership: HBR's 10 must reads, pp: 57-78, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.
Point 3: "Level 5 leaders blend  the paradoxical combination of deep personal humility with intense professional will. This rare combination also defies our assumptions about what makes a great leader".	Collins, J. 2011 "Level 5 Leadership" Harvard Business School Publishing On Leadership: HBR's 10 must reads, pp: 115-136, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.
Point 4: "Nobody  wants to work with a perfect leader - he doesn't appear to need help. So show you're human - warts and all. You'll build collaboration and solidarity between you and your followers, and underscore your approachability".	Goffee, R. and G. Jones. 2011 "Why Should  Anyone Be Led  by You?" Harvard Business School Publishing On Leadership: HBR's 10 must reads, pp: 79-95, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.
Point 5: Leadership can be defined as "a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a goal".	Corwin.com. n.d. "Chapter 1: Leadership: What is it?" Corwin.com (url address: https://www.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/15104_Rowe_Chapter_01.pdf) [visited at April 30, 2017].
Point 6: There are several key components to the leadership phenomenon. They are (a) "Leadership is a process", (b) "leadership involves influencing others", (c) "leadership happens within the context of a group", (d) "leadership involves goal attainment", and (e) "these goals are shared by leaders and their followers".	Corwin.com. n.d. "Chapter 1: Leadership: What is it?" Corwin.com (url address: https://www.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/15104_Rowe_Chapter_01.pdf) [visited at April 30, 2017].
Point 7: "...leadership is a two-way, interactive event between leaders and followers rather than a linear, one-way event in which the leader affects the followers but not vice versa".	Corwin.com. n.d. "Chapter 1: Leadership: What is it?" Corwin.com (url address: https://www.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/15104_Rowe_Chapter_01.pdf) [visited at April 30, 2017].
Point 8: "....leadership is not restricted to just one person in a group who has formal  power (i.e., the formally appointed  leader)".	Corwin.com. n.d. "Chapter 1: Leadership: What is it?" Corwin.com (url address: https://www.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/15104_Rowe_Chapter_01.pdf) [visited at April 30, 2017].
Point 9: "...having influence means that there is a greater need on the part of leaders to exercise their influence ethically".	Corwin.com. n.d. "Chapter 1: Leadership: What is it?" Corwin.com (url address: https://www.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/15104_Rowe_Chapter_01.pdf) [visited at April 30, 2017].
Point 10: "...the trait approach emphasizes leaders' attributes such as personality, motives, values and skills... Underlying  this approach was the assumption  that  some people are natural leaders, endowed with certain traits not possessed by other people".	Corwin.com. n.d. "Chapter 1: Leadership: What is it?" Corwin.com (url address: https://www.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/15104_Rowe_Chapter_01.pdf) [visited at April 30, 2017].
Point 11: "Today's firms need effective leaders who understand the complexities of the rapidly changing global environment".	Franco, M. and P.G. Matos. 2015. "Leadership styles in SMEs: a mixed-method approach" Int Entrep Manag J. 11: 425-451.
Point 12: "An effective leader influences followers in a desired  manner to achieve  desired goals".	Franco, M. and P.G. Matos. 2015. "Leadership styles in SMEs: a mixed-method approach" Int Entrep Manag J. 11: 425-451.
Point  13: "... in essence leadership is an act of motivating people to act by non-coercive means".	Franco, M. and P.G. Matos. 2015. "Leadership styles in SMEs: a mixed-method approach" Int Entrep Manag J. 11: 425-451.
Point 14: "Despite the great interest in the topic of leadership, at the moment there is a limited amount of empirical research..... This situation is found even more in the context of SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises]".	Franco, M. and P.G. Matos. 2015. "Leadership styles in SMEs: a mixed-method approach" Int Entrep Manag J. 11: 425-451.
Point 15: "Knowing and following certain leadership styles can help managers  and owners of SMEs to ensure their firms' growth and competitiveness".	Franco, M. and P.G. Matos. 2015. "Leadership styles in SMEs: a mixed-method approach" Int Entrep Manag J. 11: 425-451.
Point 16: "Leadership is a universal phenomenon inasmuch as it appears in one form or another  in different organizations and contexts".	Franco, M. and P.G. Matos. 2015. "Leadership styles in SMEs: a mixed-method approach" Int Entrep Manag J. 11: 425-451.
Point 17: "...without leadership, the probability of mistakes occurring increases and the opportunities for success become more and more reduced".	Franco, M. and P.G. Matos. 2015. "Leadership styles in SMEs: a mixed-method approach" Int Entrep Manag J. 11: 425-451.
Point 18: "Bolden and Gosling....  conclude that competencies do not provide 'a sufficiently rich vocabulary' for the subtle, textured, complex, embodied and highly situated mindset that is required for leadership".	Carroll, B., L. Levy and D. Richmond. 2008. "Leadership as Practice: Challenging the Competency Paradigm" Leadership 4(4), Sage: 363-379.
Point 19: Competency can be defined as "an underlying characteristic  of an individual that is causally related to effective or superior performance in a job".	Carroll, B., L. Levy and D. Richmond. 2008. "Leadership as Practice: Challenging the Competency Paradigm" Leadership 4(4), Sage: 363-379.
Point 20: "Dissatisfaction with the relevance of the 1970s situational models of leadership as, in essence, simply balancing concern for task and production with a concern for people, in the context of the tumultuous change that followed the major recession of the 1970s, led some writers to regard them as best described as relating to 'management', as distinct from what we now regard as 'leadership'".	Alimo-Metcalfe, B. and J. Alban-Metcalfe. 2005. "Leadership: Time for a New Direction?" Leadership 1(1), Sage: 51-71.
Point 21: "What emerged out of the new approach to studying leadership - i.e. dealing with the realities of constant change - came to be known as 'New Paradigm' models, which relate to concepts such as 'charismatic  leadership'..., 'visionary leadership'... and 'transformational leadership".	Alimo-Metcalfe, B. and J. Alban-Metcalfe. 2005. "Leadership: Time for a New Direction?" Leadership 1(1), Sage: 51-71.
Point 22: ”Whereas earlier 'old paradigm' models see leadership as a process, that (a) involves influencing others, (b) occurs within a group context, and (c) involves goal attainment..., more recent definitions of leadership have emphasized the role of leader as 'defining organizational reality'".	Alimo-Metcalfe, B. and J. Alban-Metcalfe. 2005. "Leadership: Time for a New Direction?" Leadership 1(1), Sage: 51-71.
Point 23: "US research on the new transformational paradigm has been based, in the main, on observations  of top managers in organizations, rather than middle and lower level managers.... This contrasts with earlier leadership research, such as the Ohio State studies of the 1950s and 1960s, which focused on the styles of lower level managers and supervisors".	Alimo-Metcalfe, B. and J. Alban-Metcalfe. 2005. "Leadership: Time for a New Direction?" Leadership 1(1), Sage: 51-71.
Point 24: "Since the early 1990s, a number of studies have found gender differences with respect to aspects of leadership style preference".	Alimo-Metcalfe, B. and J. Alban-Metcalfe. 2005. "Leadership: Time for a New Direction?" Leadership 1(1), Sage: 51-71.
Point 25: "The question of what skills are needed by global leaders to perform successfully has been the subject of intense study during the past decade, as organizations have increasingly turned to international strategies in various aspects of the operations to maintain or attain a position of competitive  advantage in the global marketplace".	Herd, A.M., M. Alagaraja and D.M. Cumberland. 2016. "Assessing global leadership competencies: the critical role of assessment centre methodology" Human Resource Development International 19(1), Routledge: 27-43.
Point 26: "Effective assessment and measurement of leadership competencies is an important undertaking for organizations operating in a global environment".	Herd, A.M., M. Alagaraja and D.M. Cumberland. 2016. "Assessing global leadership competencies: the critical role of assessment centre methodology" Human Resource Development International 19(1), Routledge: 27-43.

With a set of main points collected, the writer produces a set of cognitive map variables. These variables are informed by the set of main points from Table 1. These variables are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Cognitive map variables based on Table 1

Cognitive map variables	Literature review points
Variable 1: Factors that promote interest in leadership studies	Point 2: "Companies today face.... adaptive challenges. Changes in societies, markets, customers, competition, and technology around the globe are forcing organizations to clarify their values, develop new strategies and learn new ways of operating. Often the toughest task for  leaders in effecting change is mobilizing people throughout the organization to do adaptive work". Point 11: "Today's firms need effective leaders who understand the complexities of the rapidly changing global environment". Point 25: "The question of what skills are needed by global leaders to perform successfully has been the subject of intense study during the past decade, as organizations have increasingly turned to international strategies in various aspects of the operations to maintain or attain a position of competitive  advantage in the global marketplace".
Variable 2: More intellectual knowledge on leadership	Point 5: Leadership can be defined as "a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a goal". Point 6: There are several key components to the leadership phenomenon. They are (a) "Leadership is a process", (b) "leadership involves influencing others", (c) "leadership happens within the context of a group", (d) "leadership involves goal attainment", and (e) "these goals are shared by leaders and their followers". Point 7: "...leadership is a two-way, interactive event between leaders and followers rather than a linear, one-way event in which the leader affects the followers but not vice versa". Point 8: "....leadership is not restricted to just one person in a group who has formal  power (i.e., the formally appointed  leader)". Point 9: "...having influence means that there is a greater need on the part of leaders to exercise their influence ethically". Point 10: "...the trait approach emphasizes leaders' attributes such as personality, motives, values and skills... Underlying  this approach was the assumption  that  some people are natural leaders, endowed with certain traits not possessed by other people". Point  13: "... in essence leadership is an act of motivating people to act by non-coercive means". Point 16: "Leadership is a universal phenomenon inasmuch as it appears in one form or another  in different organizations and contexts". Point 18: "Bolden and Gosling....  conclude that competencies do not provide 'a sufficiently rich vocabulary' for the subtle, textured, complex, embodied and highly situated mindset that is required for leadership". Point 19: Competency can be defined as "an underlying characteristic  of an individual that is causally related to effective or superior performance in a job". Point 20: "Dissatisfaction with the relevance of the 1970s situational models of leadership as, in essence, simply balancing concern for task and production with a concern for people, in the context of the tumultuous change that followed the major recession of the 1970s, led some writers to regard them as best described as relating to 'management', as distinct from what we now regard as 'leadership'". Point 21: "What emerged out of the new approach to studying leadership - i.e. dealing with the realities of constant change - came to be known as 'New Paradigm' models, which relate to concepts such as 'charismatic  leadership'..., 'visionary leadership'... and 'transformational leadership". Point 22: ”Whereas earlier 'old paradigm' models see leadership as a process, that (a) involves influencing others, (b) occurs within a group context, and (c) involves goal attainment..., more recent definitions of leadership have emphasized the role of leader as 'defining organizational reality'". Point 23: "US research on the new transformational paradigm has been based, in the main, on observations  of top managers in organizations, rather than middle and lower level managers.... This contrasts with earlier leadership research, such as the Ohio State studies of the 1950s and 1960s, which focused on the styles of lower level managers and supervisors".
Variable 3: Effective leadership practices	Point 1: "What distinguishes great leaders from merely good ones?.... It's emotional intelligence [EI]: a group of five skills  that enable the best leaders to maximize their own and their followers'  performance...  The EI skills are: . Self-awareness.... .Self-regulation ....  .Motivation...   .Empathy.....  .Social skill". Point 3: "Level 5 leaders blend  the paradoxical combination of deep personal humility with intense professional will. This rare combination also defies our assumptions about what makes a great leader". Point 4: "Nobody  wants to work with a perfect leader - he doesn't appear to need help. So show you're human - warts and all. You'll build collaboration and solidarity between you and your followers, and underscore your approachability".
Variable 4: Positive outcomes of leadership practices	Point 12: "An effective leader influences followers in a desired  manner to achieve  desired goals". Point 15: "Knowing and following certain leadership styles can help managers  and owners of SMEs to ensure their firms' growth and competitiveness". Point 17: "...without leadership, the probability of mistakes occurring increases and the opportunities for success become more and more reduced".
Variable 5: Learn from leadership practices	Point 14: "Despite the great interest in the topic of leadership, at the moment there is a limited amount of empirical research..... This situation is found even more in the context of SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises]". Point 24: "Since the early 1990s, a number of studies have found gender differences with respect to aspects of leadership style preference". Point 26: "Effective assessment and measurement of leadership competencies is an important undertaking for organizations operating in a global environment".

The next step is to relate the cognitive map variables to make up a cognitive map on leadership. The cognitive map and its explanation are presented in the next section.

A cognitive map on leadership and its interpretation

By relating the five variables identified in Table 2, the writer comes up with a cognitive map on leadership, as shown in Figure 1.

These cognitive  map variables, five of them altogether, are related to constitute a systemic image of leadership. The links in the cognitive map (re: Figure 1) indicate direction of influences between variables. The + sign shows that an increase in one variable leads to an increase in another variable while a -ve sign tells us that in increase in one variable leads to a decrease in another variable.  If there no signs shown on the arrows, that means the influences can be positive or negative. Readers are referred to the Literature on leadership studies Facebook page for more  information on the topic.

Concluding remarks

The cognitive mapping exercise captures in one diagram some of the main variables involved in leadership. The resultant cognitive map promotes an exploratory way to study leadership in a holistic tone. The experience of the cognitive mapping exercise is that it can be a quick, efficient and entertaining way to explore a complex topic such as leadership in business management. Finally, readers who are interested in cognitive mapping should also find the article informative on this mapping topic.

Bibliography

1.      Alimo-Metcalfe, B. and J. Alban-Metcalfe. 2005. "Leadership: Time for a New Direction?" Leadership 1(1), Sage: 51-71.

2.      Carroll, B., L. Levy and D. Richmond. 2008. "Leadership as Practice: Challenging the Competency Paradigm" Leadership 4(4), Sage: 363-379.

3.      Collins, J. 2011 "Level 5 Leadership" Harvard Business School Publishing On Leadership: HBR's 10 must reads, pp: 115-136, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.

4.      Corwin.com. n.d. "Chapter 1: Leadership: What is it?" Corwin.com (url address: https://www.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/15104_Rowe_Chapter_01.pdf) [visited at April 30, 2017].

5.      Eden, C. and P. Simpson. 1989. "SODA and cognitive mapping in practice", pp. 43-70, in Rosenhead, J. (editor) Rational Analysis for a Problematic World, Wiley, Chichester.

6.      Eden, C., C. Jones and D. Sims. 1983. Messing about in Problems: An informal structured approach to their identification and management, Pergamon Press, Oxford.

7.      Franco, M. and P.G. Matos. 2015. "Leadership styles in SMEs: a mixed-method approach" Int Entrep Manag J. 11: 425-451.

8.      Goffee, R. and G. Jones. 2011 "Why Should  Anyone Be Led  by You?" Harvard Business School Publishing On Leadership: HBR's 10 must reads, pp: 79-95, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.

9.      Goleman, D. 2011. "What Makes a Leader?" Harvard Business School Publishing On Leadership: HBR's 10 must reads, pp: 1-21, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.

10. Heiftez, R.A. and D.L. Laurie. 2011 "The Work of Leadership" Harvard Business School Publishing On Leadership: HBR's 10 must reads, pp: 57-78, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.

11. Herd, A.M., M. Alagaraja and D.M. Cumberland. 2016. "Assessing global leadership competencies: the critical role of assessment centre methodology" Human Resource Development International 19(1), Routledge: 27-43.

12. Literature on cognitive mapping Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/Literature-on-cognitive-mapping-800894476751355/).

13. Literature on leadership studies Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.leadership.studies/).

14. Literature on literature review Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.literaturereview/).

15. Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/managerial.intellectual.learning/).

16. Open University. n.d. "Sign graph" Systems Thinking and Practice (T552): Diagramming, Open University, U.K. (url address: http://systems.open.ac.uk/materials/T552/) [visited at April 10, 2017].