The Exploration of Industry Context And Leadership Style; An Exploration of Leaders of Creativity and Innovation

Authors: Talia Cooperman, Kimberly Jaussi

Field of Study: Psychology

Program Affiliation: Bass Center For Leadership Studies

Faculty Mentors: Kimberly Jaussi

Easel: 106

Timeslot: Midday

Abstract: Over the years, research has focused on individual differences, such as what personalities make a successful leader. Oftentimes missing from these journals is rudimentary contextual information (Johns, 2024). Other research has found different industries pose different leadership challenges for top executives (Burak, 2018). For example, research studies have found high pressure environments impact the decision making of leaders (Eisenhardt, 1989). Another study found that crises dependent environments, specifically during the coronavirus pandemic, affect leadership strategy (Buchanan et al., 2021). Using data from over 30 interviews of executives in creativity and innovation, this inductive qualitative study explores how executives lead creativity and innovation with an overarching research question: does leading innovation differ depending on the industry a leader is in? Themes will be identified and implications for academics and practicing leaders will be discussed.