Abstract
This paper develops a model of executive leadership consisting of four competing roles: Vision Setter, Motivator, Analyzer, and Task Master. These four roles are operationalized and hypotheses are then tested concerning their relationships to three dimensions of firm performance using data collected from a sample of 916 top managers. Results suggest that CEOs with high "behavioral complexity" - the ability to play multiple, competing roles - produce the best firm performance, particularly with respect to business performance (growth and innovation) and organizational (stakeholder) effectiveness. Executive leadership role had little to do with firms' financial performance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
