Open AccessWill action follow words? Conditions for credibility of leadership intentions
Author(s) -
Lotte Bøgh Andersen,
Mads Leth Felsager Jakobsen
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
politica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2246-042X
pISSN - 0105-0710
DOI - 10.7146/politica.v51i3.131164
Subject(s) - credibility , action (physics) , terminology , affect (linguistics) , public relations , psychology , social psychology , political science , linguistics , philosophy , physics , communication , quantum mechanics , law
Talk without action is both cheap and ineffective. When leaders communicate a leadership intention to their followers, the credibility is important if the intention is going to affect the behavior of the followers. This article develops a theory about the conditions for credibility of leadership intentions. These conditions are good if the institutional framework, the leader’s characteristics and goals, and the leader’s prior behavior make it plausible that present and future leaders both can and will ensure that the intention is realized. To contribute to future research, the article develops expectations concerning the conditions for credibility and their effects. It also contains several points for practitioners and presents a terminology for developing the credibility of one’s own leadership intentions.