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Transformational leadership and diversity
Exploring the effect of a personal background on transformational leadership practices
Student name: Ahmed Sékou Touré Student number: s1420291
Word count: 26.853 Master: Public Administration Track: IEG Supervisor: Maarja Beerkens
2 Table of contents
1. Introduction and research question 4
1.1 Motivation 4
1.2 Research question 5
1.3 Scientific relevance of the thesis 6
1.4 Thesis outline 6
2. Theoretical framework 7
2.1 Transformational leadership 7
2.2 Effect of migration background on transformational leadership 10
2.3 Experience of employees with different backgrounds and transformational leadership 13
2.4 Summary theoretical framework 16
3. Research design and data collection 17
3.1 Case selection 17
3.2 Design 19
3.3 Method of data collection 19
3.4 Operationalisation 19
3.4.1 Indicators of transformational leadership 20
3.5 The coding process 20
4. Empirical findings and data analysis 21
4.1 Leadership in general: how the six supervisors perform their supervisor role 21
4.2 Idealized influence 23
4.2.1 The use of idealized influence by supervisors 23
4.2.2 Perceptions of the use of idealized influence by employees 25
4.2.3 Link between supervisors and employees about idealized influence 27
4.3 Inspirational motivation 28
4.3.1 The use of inspirational motivation by supervisors 29
4.3.2 Perceptions of the use of inspirational motivation by employees 31
4.3.3 Link between supervisors and employees about inspirational motivation 32
4.4 Intellectual stimulation 33
4.4.1 The use of intellectual stimulation by supervisors 33
4.4.2 Perceptions of the use of intellectual stimulation by employees 34
4.4.3 Link between supervisors and employees about intellectual stimulation 35
4.5 Individualized consideration 36
4.5.1 The use of individualized consideration by supervisors 36
4.5.2 Perceptions of the use of individualized consideration by employees 37
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4.6 Leadership and personal background 38
4.6.1 The association of the background of supervisors with their use of transformational leadership 39
4.6.2 Observed difference in leadership practice perceived by supervisors 42
4.6.2.1 Leadership in general 42
4.6.2.2 Idealized influence 43
4.6.2.3 Inspirational motivation 43
4.6.2.4 Intellectual stimulation 43
4.6.2.5 Individualized consideration 44
4.6.3 The association of the background of employees with their perceptions of the use of transformational leadership by their supervisors 44
4.6.4 Observed difference in leadership practice perceived by employees 48
4.6.4.1 Leadership in general 49 4.6.4.2 Idealized influence 49 4.6.4.3 Inspirational motivation 50 4.6.4.4 Intellectual stimulation 50 4.6.4.5 Individualized consideration 51 5. Conclusion 51 Bibliography 57 Appendix 60
4 1. Introduction and research question
1.1 Motivation
The 'Annual Report Operational Management' of the Dutch national government, which appeared on 1 May 2018, concludes that the diversity in the Dutch National government is broadly in order (Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijsrelaties, 2017). This means that government officials with a migration background are representative to the share of this group within the labour force. However, if it comes to top functions as for instance Director-General within a particular ministry, approximately nine out of the ten top functions are exercised by native Dutch employees. This implies that we can speak of disproportionality between civil servants with migration background and those with no migration background (Consultancy.nl 2018).
According to the abovementioned article, among the 110.000 full-time employees of the Dutch National government 10.3% has a non-Western migration background in 2018 (Consultancy.nl 2018). This implies that this percentage has increased, as the number of employees with a non-Western migration background was 8.7% in 2013. This increasing number of employees with non-Western migration background suggests that the Dutch national government is moving toward more diversity. Moreover, the Netherlands has also employees with Western migration background. These are employees coming from countries as North-America and Oceania, Indonesia and Japan. Employees with a Western migration background represent 9.2% of the workforce of the Central government, while representing 10.1% of the Dutch total population. On the other hand, employees with a non-Western migration background represent 12% of the Dutch total population.
While diversity within the national government is going in a right direction, ‘vertical diversity' is still lacking (Consultancy.nl 2018). One example of the lack of vertical diversity comes from the research on salaries. This research shows that all top positions falling under scale 17, such as the function of Secretary General, are only occupied by 1.3% of civil servants with a non-Western migration background. This is a strong contrast to the representative percentages mentioned above. In addition, scales 10 through 16 know less than 8% of employees with a non-Western migration background. In contrast to employees with a non-Western migration background, the percentage of employees with a Western migration background is closer to being representative of this group. If we take scale 1 to 16 the share of this group fluctuates around the 9%, while in the top civil service scale (which is scale 17) a percentage of 12.3% is noticed (see Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijsrelaties, 2017, pp. 26-29; and Consultancy.nl 2018).
The above discussed articles show that there is a low percentage of civil servants with a migrant background exercising high functions in the Dutch national government. Despite this low percentage, it is very important and interesting to investigate how leaders/managers with a migrant background use a particular leadership style.
5 The goal of this thesis is to explore how supervisors with diverse background perceive their leadership and if there is a link between background and leadership. The reason of focusing on the background is the fact that there is limited knowledge about how leaders with a migrant background use a particular leadership style in leading their staff, while the number of leaders with a migrant background is nowadays growing. Therefore, it is important to know if their background has an effect on the way they use transformational leadership. This study focuses on a specific leadership style, i.e. transformational leadership, because this leadership style is claimed to be one of the most effective and popular style that is applied by leaders in order to meet the goals of the organization (see for instance Jacobsen & Andersen 2015, Bass et al. 2003 and Eagly et al. 2003). Moreover, another social relevance of this thesis is that public organizations may have advantages of the findings of the study. Organizations arrange often generic training for their leaders. In those trainings diversity of employees is often discussed and leaders are made aware of the importance and value of diversity. Yet the trainings rarely take into account the diversity of leaders themselves. In this case, it is important to accumulate more evidence about the relationships between the background of the leader and his or her leadership behaviour. Furthermore, this research is also relevant in the point of view of employees with different backgrounds. What we know hitherto is that different leadership styles influence the functioning of the staff members of an organization (Ely et al. 2001, Kearney & Gebert 2009, Randel et al. 2017, Shore et al. 2011). What we do not know yet is if the background of leaders applying different leadership styles has an effect on the way they steer employees with different backgrounds. Studying this puzzle can thus contribute to further knowledge in the broad literature about leadership, because it can show the importance of a specific training of leadership skills in organisations, in addition to the generic training.
1.2 Research question
The central question of this thesis is the following: 'How is the personal background of supervisors
associated with their use of transformational leadership (intended and perceived leadership) to steer employees with different backgrounds?'
Here, the focus is on direct supervisors. The reason behind this choice is that supervisors in an organization are the ones who are directly in contact with employees. They steer and motivate them in order to make sure that they are functioning according to their tasks and to achieve the organizational goals. Furthermore, about the association between background and leadership, we will discuss how different supervisors intend to perform transformational leadership in the practice and how their employees perceive it. Moreover, the study and analysis in this thesis will be built up by first describing the leadership behaviour (in this thesis the behaviour of supervisors); the link between the background of leaders and their use of transformational leadership; and finally how leaders themselves explain the link. This results to the following sub-questions:
1. How do supervisors use transformational leadership?
6 3. How do leaders themselves perceive the link between their background and leadership?
1.3 Scientific relevance of the thesis
In the literature about transformational leadership the focus lies primarily on transformational leadership as effective leadership style. However, the literature does not much discuss the prevalence of transformational leadership among different groups of leaders. The literature also does not discuss much about how leaders/managers from different backgrounds use transformational leadership. It is important to investigate the use of transformational leadership by leaders with different background because this will be an enrichment of the existing literature in this field of research.
Another scientific relevance of this thesis can be deduced from the study by Jacobsen & Andersen (2015), which is about the discrepancy between intended and perceived leadership. In their studies, the authors tested the expectation that employee-perceived leadership has a stronger correlation with organizational performance than leader-intended leadership (Jacobsen & Andersen, 2015, p. 829). The result of their study was that leader-intended and employee-perceived transformational and transactional leadership are weakly correlated. Furthermore, only employee-perceived leadership practices are significantly related to objectively measured school performance. According to the authors, this shows the importance of the distinction between intended and perceived leadership and that leaders should be aware about how employees perceive their practices (Jacobsen & Andersen, 2015, p. 829). From this article, it is clear that it is important to understand how employees perceive a leadership style applied by a leader. Put differently, it is thus important to simultaneously investigate the intentions and perceptions of leaders, but also the perceptions of their employees.
Furthermore, transformational leadership is related to intrinsic motivation, where it is essential that leaders can inspire their employees to get the best out of them. Therefore, it is very important to know how leaders with migration background and non-migration background motivate their employees intrinsically. We can then see if the background of the leader helps in the process of steering and motivating employees in order to perform their tasks well for the wellbeing of the organization.
All in all, there is limited literature about leadership styles that explores the effect of the background of leaders on the way they use a particular or different types of leadership. Generally, the literature focus on the effects of these leadership styles on the performance of staff members. Moreover, the practice of leadership styles are generic, which means leadership skills that are applicable to all staff of the organizations. Instead of this, leadership skills have to be also specific in order to meet the needs of different employees. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to assess if the migration background of leaders affects the way they use transformational leadership.
1.4 Thesis outline
The next chapter of this thesis is the literature review and the theoretical framework. In this chapter, the theory about the effect of background on (transformational) leadership will be discussed. Moreover, this
7 chapter also presents the existing criticism of this study field. This thesis will also try to link the main theories and their criticism of diversity. After this chapter, the chapter about the research design will follow. In this chapter, the concepts from the theoretical framework will be operationalized and the justification for the chosen research method discussed. Thus, this chapter will explain the method of both data collection and data analysis of this thesis. Afterwards, the next chapter is about the empirical findings and analysis of these findings. This chapter will report the findings of the data analysis. In this chapter, the theoretical framework will also be applied to the research topic, attempting to explain the phenomenon under study. The final chapter is the conclusion, whereby the thesis is summarized and the research question is answered.
2. Theoretical framework
2.1 Transformational leadership
The literature about leadership distinguishes different styles of leadership. A few popular instances of those styles are transformational and transactional leadership. In this thesis, to define leadership in general, the study by Gary Yukl (1989) about managerial leadership is central. Besides, to define transformational leadership in particular, the study by Avolio et al (2009) about current theories, research and future directions in the field of leadership is important.
In his article 'Managerial leadership: A review of theory and research', Yukl (1989) defines leadership as 'influencing task objectives and strategies, influencing commitment and compliance in task
behavior to achieve these objectives, influencing group maintenance and identification, and influencing the culture of an organization' (Yukl, 1989, p. 253). Thus, according to this definition, we can posit that
a leader is someone who exercises influence about objectives and strategies of different tasks that have to be carried out by staff members. The leader also influences commitment and compliance in the behavior of employees in order to achieve the task objectives. Furthermore, according to the abovementioned definition, the leader also influences the maintenance and identification of the group. One possible meaning of this definition is that the leader has impact on the continuation and enforcement of a group of employees whom he or she is leading, but he or she also influences the identification of this group with the organisation. Moreover, according to the definition of Yukl, the leader also influences the culture of an organization, which means the customs and manner of treating situations in an organization.
According to Avolio et al (2009) transformational leadership refers to 'leader behaviors that
transform and inspire followers to perform beyond expectations while transcending self-interest for the good of the organization' (Avolio et al., 2009, p. 423). Two key words in this definition are 'transform'
and 'inspire'. In consequence, we can posit that leaders that apply transformational leadership in an organization try to change the way of working of their employees so that they can perform better. They also try to stimulate, motivate and encourage them through, for instance, their speeches and actions. In
8 this case, these employees are motivated by their leaders in order to perform for the well-being of the organization. Individual self-interest is subordinate to the common interest, which is the good of the organization, as Avolio et al. (2009) posit it.
Based on the work of Avolio, Bass & Jung (1999) and Antonakis (2001) about the distinct components of transformational leadership, Bass et al (2003) sketched and described the following four components of transformational leadership: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration (Bass et al., 2003, p. 208). According to the authors, idealized influence is about the admiration, respect and trust of leaders by their followers. Followers identified themselves with their leader and imitate him/her. Moreover, leaders with idealized influence choose to consider their follower's needs above their own needs. This makes them gain more credits by their followers. Also, in this component, leaders are consistent if it comes to underlying ethics, values and principles, but they also share eventual risks with their followers (Bass et al., 2003, p. 208). By inspirational motivation, leaders act in ways that motivate their followers by providing meaning and challenge to their work. In this component of transformational leadership, individual and team spirit is encouraged. According to Bass et al. (2003), enthusiasm and optimism are also present in this component. The leader encourages followers to imagine attractive future conditions. Followers can finally imagine the same (future conditions) for themselves (Bass et al., 2003, p. 208). Moreover, the third component which is intellectual stimulation, is where leaders stimulate their follower's endeavours to be innovative and creative through questioning assumptions, reframing problems and approaching old situations in new manners. According to the authors, there is here no public criticism of individual members' mistakes. Furthermore, followers are asked for new ideas and creative solutions to problems. They are also involved in the process of dealing with problems and finding solutions (Bass et al., 2003, p. 208). Finally, in the last component of transformational leadership which is individualized consideration, leaders pay attention to each need of their followers for achievements and growth through behaving as a coach or mentor. Here, followers are grown to successively higher level of potential. There is also the establishment of new learning opportunities together with a supportive atmosphere in which to grow. In this component, there is also a recognition of individual differences in terms of needs and desires (Bass et al., 2003, p. 208).
In their essay 'A critical assessment of Charismatic-Transformational leadership research: Back to the drawing board?' Van Knippenberg and Sitkin (2013) critically assess research on charismatic-transformational leadership. They identify four problems with theory and research in the abovementioned leadership style. These problems are: lack of an obvious conceptual definition of charismatic-transformational leadership, failing to have a clear specification of the causal model capturing different influence of each dimension on mediating processes and outcomes; and how this is dependent on moderating influences, confusing conceptualization and operationalisation of charismatic-transformational leadership with its effects and the fact that the most used measurement tools are invalid (Van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013, pp. 1-2).
9 The first problem, which is the lack of clear conceptual definition, implies, according to Van Knippenberg and Sitkin (2013), that charismatic-transformational leadership is defined through mentioning its components and through its effects. What is missing then here is a conceptual definition that is independent of its effectiveness and that clarifies what unifies the different elements of charismatic-transformational leadership. One important reason for the lack of conceptual definition is, according to the authors, the fact that models of charismatic-transformational leadership are inductively derived. This means that there is an exceptional leadership observable 'out there' in practice (grounded taxonomy) (Van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013, pp. 9-10). The second problem implies that it is not clear how the different dimensions of charismatic-transformational leadership have to be combined in order to form a whole concept. Instead of forming one concept, the dimensions are additive. According to the authors, dimensions are also summed to have a general operationalization of charismatic-transformational leadership (Van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013, p. 13). In addition, the third problem sketched by Knippenberg and Sitkin (2013) is related to the first problem which is that charismatic-transformational leadership is defined in terms of its effects. There is here the grounded taxonomy claim that there is something out there that is effective in changing individuals and social systems. This is also part of the measurement model in the form of attributions of leadership effects. Examples of this problem, according to Van Knippenberg and Sitkin (2013), are the confusion of measurement models with (element) of attributed effects in the operationalization (such as reference to inspiration, pride and commitment) (Van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013, p. 14). Finally, the fourth problem mentioned by the authors implies that research in charismatic-transformational leadership is plagued by underdeveloped and inclusive model, resulting in the fact that empirical research of (dimensions of) transformational leadership lead to all outcomes of interests (inclusive the mediation by all mediators and the moderation by all moderators) (Van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013, p. 15). We can conclude from the above argument that this problem finally results in invalid measurements.
In conclusion, this thesis will focus on the second problem sketched by Van Knippenberg and Sitkin (2013), which is about the different dimensions (components) of transformational leadership. The reason for this is that all components have their functions if it comes to steer and motivate different employees for the attainment of organizational goals. Individualized consideration for instance has as function of managers behaving as a coach or mentor in order to fulfil different needs and desires of staff members such as the establishment of learning opportunities to achieve their growth. In consequence, this thesis will not try to combine the different dimensions to form a whole concept. Instead of this it will assess the function of the dimensions in practice by asking different questions about them during interviews with supervisors and their staff members in different organizations. In this case, we can also prove that the dimensions cannot be combined, but separately used in particular situations to steer, motivate or inspire diverse staff members.
Furthermore, this thesis is about the study of the manner in which the migration background of the leaders affects the way they use transformational leadership to steer employees with
10 different backgrounds. By exploring this phenomenon, this thesis wants to find an answer to an issue that has received little attention by scholars. The literature about leadership is more focused on the effects of particular leadership styles on the functioning of (diverse) staff in a particular organization. What is then lacking is the background of leaders and if this plays a certain role in the application of different types of leadership styles in organizations. And this thesis will focus on transformational leadership as style and its separate components.
2.2 Effect of migration background on transformational leadership
About the effect of migration background of leaders there are no studies in the leadership literature. Literature about the effect of the migration background of leaders on the use of transformational leadership seems to not exist. There is interesting research, for example, about cultural intelligence of leaders where effects of team cultural diversity on leader and team performance were tested (Groves and Feyerherm, 2011), and about the effects of transformational leadership on diversity and creativity at work (Taylor, 2015). Another relevant study explores the relationship between ethnic identity and leadership style in the case of African American leaders (Haney-Brown, 2017). There is a lot of studies that one can find online about ethnic-cultural background but the abovementioned studies are the most related to the subject of this thesis. However, they are not about the migration background of leaders in particular, but about the effect of leadership on the performance of employees with diverse background. As mentioned in the section of scientific relevance, leadership studies are about effectiveness of different leadership styles in achieving organizational goals. In general, they don't discuss the background of leaders and how this can play something of importance in a particular style that they apply to steer (different) staff members for the well-being of the organisation.
However, the study by Eagly et al. (2003) about whether there is a difference between the leadership styles of men and women is very important for this thesis. The reason for this is that the central research question of this thesis is very similar to that of the study by Eagly et. al – the effect of personal background on leadership. Eagly et al. (2003) assess in their article whether the typical leadership styles of women differ from that of men and whether any difference could be a barrier for women seeking to raise in hierarchy of power and influence (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 569). They tried to answer this question in examining research that compare men and women on three leadership styles, which are transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 569). The authors contend that the own behaviour of leaders is a major determining factor of their effectiveness for advancement (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 569). Accordingly, they found a small difference between men and women in their leadership activities. According to them, female leaders were more transformational than male leaders. Besides, female leaders also participated in contingent reward behaviours (component of transactional leadership). In contrast to this, male leaders manifested the other aspects of transactional leadership, which are active and passive management by exception; and laissey-faire leadership (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 569). This is an important idea for this thesis because the personal background of leaders
11 can also be a determining factor of how they use the components of transformational leadership in an organization.
An important idea about this gender difference concerning the three leadership styles is that both gender roles and leader roles are essential by assessing the possibility if men and women differ in their leadership behaviours. To assess the difference between women and men, Eagly et al. (2003) based their expectations on the social role theory approach to leadership behaviour. Accordingly, the authors argue that leaders occupy specific positions (thus roles) in the hierarchy of an organization that are under the constraints of their gender roles (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 572). According to the authors, gender roles are consensual beliefs about the attributes of men and women. This implies that if gender roles have influence on leaders, then men and women exerting the same leadership role will behave differently (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 572). In this case, this also means that leaders with a migrant background behave differently than their counterparts which can affects how they apply transformational leadership in the practice. On the other hand, there is, according to Eagly et al. (2003), inconsistency between female roles and leader roles. This has to do with the 'communal qualities' people attribute to women (examples of these qualities are friendly, unselfish and kind) and the 'agentic qualities' that they believe are needed to succeed as leaders (examples of these qualities are assertive, masterful and instrumentally competent) (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 572). Communal and agentic qualities here can be related to the 'masculinity versus femininity' dimension of Hofstede (1984). In his article 'cultural dimensions in management and planning', Hofstede defines masculinity as standing for a preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material success. Thus, these masculine qualities are clearly related to the agentic qualities. In contrast to this, Hofstede (1984) defines femininity as standing for a preference for relationships, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. These feminine qualities can somehow be related to the communal qualities. Furthermore, Hofstede posits that the fundamental issue by the 'masculine versus feminine dimension' is the manner in which the society allocates social roles to both sexes (men and women) (Hofstede, 1984, p. 84). This is exactly what Eagly et al. (2003) posited in their discussion of the communal and agentic qualities. Thus, one can conclude from the discussion of 'communal versus agentic qualities' and 'masculine versus feminine qualities' that the background of the leader matters if it comes to how he or she applies the components of transformational leadership.
According to the authors, the abovementioned inconsistency creates biases toward female leaders and potential leaders. This takes two forms, whereby the first form is less advantageous evaluation of women's potential for leadership because of leadership being more men stereotypic than women stereotypic. The second form is less favourable evaluation of women's genuine leadership behaviour because of agentic behaviour being perceived as less preferable in women than men (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 572). In consequence, coherent with the first form of bias and the concept of glass ceiling, it is very difficult for women to attain and retain leadership roles as they face more strict requirement, which favours men (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 572). Furthermore, the second form of bias also constraints women's leadership style. Here, women encounter negative reactions when they behave in agentic
12 manner, in particular when they exert control and dominance over others. According to the authors, as consequence, when in managerial positions many women manifest communication and language styles that are more collaborative and less hierarchical than those of their male counterparts (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 573).
According to Eagly et al. (2003) an implication of the social role theory is that transformational, transactional and laissez-faire styles of men and women can differ to some extent. The reason for this is the dynamics of role inconsistency and the influence of gender role on behaviour through spillover and internalization of gender-specific norms (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 573). In this line of reasoning, women may prefer a transformational style because it allows them to overcome the dilemma of role inconsistency. This dilemma is that conforming to their leader role can hinder their ability to meet the requirements of their gender roles and vice versa (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 573). Thus, transformational leadership may allow women to avoid the so called masculine impression they can show through the exercise of hierarchical control and through participating in agentic leader behaviour (Eagly et al., 2003, p. 573). The critic here is that you can posit, in general, that many employees are more attracted by the communal qualities attributed to women (friendly, kind and unselfish) than the agentic qualities (assertive, masterful and instrumentally competent). Also you can be a successful leader by applying the communal qualities, depending on the followers. From this perspective it is interesting to explore if the background of leaders lead them to apply communal qualities, which can be related to the components of transformational leadership style (particularly idealized influence and individual consideration) over the agentic qualities.
Thus, what we can learn from the study of Eagly et al. (2003) is that socio-demographic background matters. This implies that it matters if the leader is a man or a woman. In this case we can expect that the ethnic-cultural background of leaders also matters. Accordingly, one can expect that the culture of leaders with migration background can be related to the communal and agentic qualities discussed by Eagly et al. (2003). As transformational leadership has been developed and popularized particularly in the Western context, it may be based on some unique norms that play out differently for leaders with a non-Western migration background. In this case, non-Western migration background may have an effect via different mechanisms, such as the ethnic-cultural background. Many non-Western cultures demonstrate more collectivist traits. Furthermore, it can also be that the experience of moving from a (non-Western) country to another country changes the disposition of the person, which may influence how they approach leadership.
According to Hofstede, individualism stands for a loosely social framework where individuals only take care of themselves and their immediate family. In contrast to this, collectivism stands for a tightly social framework where individuals can expect their relatives and clans to look after them. According to the author, a fundamental issue here is the degree of interdependence among individuals in a social, the so-called I or We (Hofstede, 1984, p. 83). In conclusion, one can expect an effect on the
13 application of the component of transformational leadership by leaders based on the fact of their ethnic-cultural background being individualist or collectivist.
2.3 Experience of employees with different backgrounds and transformational leadership
We have discussed so far the perspective of leaders as it comes to the effects of ethnic-cultural background on the use of transformational leadership style. Now it is time to focus on the experience of diverse employees with transformational leadership style. This implies that how employees with different backgrounds perceive the use (of the components) of transformational leadership by their supervisors is also very important. After all, leadership styles are used to steer staff members for the good performance of different tasks.
In their study about managing diversity and enhancing team outcomes, Kearney and Gebert (2009) examine the role that transformational leadership can play in coping with teams that are diverse on demographic and informational domain. This study focuses on how transformational leadership influences the balance between the positive and negative effects that originate from different type of team heterogeneity (demographic and informational heterogeneity). The authors use here transformational leadership as moderator for the relationship between age, nationality and educational background diversity and team (sample of 62 research and development teams) outcomes. They argue that when transformational leadership is considered as a means whereby the balance between positive and negative effects of different dimensions of diversity is in favour of the positive ones, organisations could be active in selecting and training leaders of diverse teams (Kearney and Gebert, 2009, p. 78). Thus in the study of Kearney and Gebert, the focus is on the age, nationality and educational backgrounds of research and development teams and the influence of transformational leadership on them. In this study it is shown that it is not about how diverse team experience transformational leadership. Instead of this, the study by Kearney and Gebert is about the dual effect (positive and negative effect) of transformational leadership on demographic (age, nationality and educational background diversity) and informational/cognitive teams (Kearney and Gebert, 2009, pp. 78-79).
In their study about inclusive leadership, Randel et al. (2017) introduce a framework that contribute to and follow from inclusive leadership within (diverse) workgroups (p. 190). The authors posit that to make sure that different individuals in an organization are fully involved in the workplace and to give the opportunity to all employees to reach their full potential, researchers and practitioners have increasingly looked to inclusion. They defined inclusion as 'employees perceiving that they are
esteemed members of a work group or organization as a result of treatment that satisfies belongingness and uniqueness needs' (Randel et al, 2017, p. 191). The authors argue that both belongingness (which is
the need to develop and maintain vigorous and stable interpersonal relationships) and uniqueness (which is the need to retain a distinctive sense of self) have to be present in order to speak of inclusion (Randel et al., 2017, p. 192). They contend that inclusion depends in part on effective leadership. As there is still limited research and theories focusing on leadership approaches that promote employee experiences of
14 workgroup inclusion, the authors put forward that inclusive leadership allows the effective functioning of diverse workgroups in manners that are not sufficiently addressed by other leadership styles. They define inclusive leadership as a 'set of leader behaviors that are focused on facilitating group members
feeling part of the group (belongingness) and retaining their sense of individuality (uniqueness) while contributing to group processes and outcomes' (Randel et al., 2017, p. 191).
Furthermore, in order to accomplish perceptions of inclusion among diverse employees, Randel et al. (2017) introduce a very interesting framework. This framework comprises 5 categories of leadership behaviours (three for belongingness and two for uniqueness) that lead to member workgroup identification, psychological empowerment and behavioural outcomes (creativity, job performance and reduced turnover) in the accomplishment of group goals (Randel et al., 2017, pp. 190-193). According to the authors, leadership behaviours facilitating belongingness are supporting group members, ensuring that each group member experiences justice and equity; and providing for opportunities for shared decision making on relevant issues. Supporting group members implies that leaders make members feel comfortable and communicate that they want the best for members. This is accomplished through creating comfortable atmosphere and exerting influence by helping members with their needs and supporting them and their opinions. Additionally, leaders ensure justice and equity by showing fair treatment to group members. This indicates that they are a respected part of group. This also leads to awareness about the fact that certain decisions could intentionally create a lack of equity between group members. Moreover, share of decision making implies for instance to ask for group-wide participation when making major decisions and giving members the opportunity to discuss how to integrate the presented solutions or perspectives (Randel et al., 2017, p. 193).
According to Randel et al. (2017), leadership behaviours facilitating (values for) uniqueness are encouraging diverse contributions to the work group and helping group members to fully offer their unique talents and perspectives to improve the work of the group. Encouraging diverse contributions is to show that uniqueness is valued. By paying attention to different point of views and approaches, leaders can support perspectives and orientations that contribute to performance. Helping group members to fully contribute means to encourage individuals who otherwise might not feel that their contributions are welcome. An example of this is the leader asking all members to write down ideas about a certain subject and share them one after another to make sure that all voices are heard (Randel et al., 2017, pp. 193-194).
In conclusion, when leaders facilitate belongingness and uniqueness, employees should experience inclusion in their workgroup. This perception of inclusion will, according to Randel et al. (2017), lead to positive results that benefit. Although the authors posit that the relationship between member perceptions of inclusion and positive behavioural outcomes are indirect, we can contend that these two are somehow related. This implies that they have some direct relation. The reason behind this is that they argue that when members feel a high degree of inclusion with their workgroups, they tend to identify strongly with their workgroups and feel psychologically empowered. This identification and
15 psychological empowerment should, according to the authors, lead to positive behavioural outcomes. Identification with the workgroup here means strong relationship with group members. These associations result in the fact that workgroup members see the workgroup as part of their identity. On the other hand, psychological empowerment is that individuals feel that they have an impact and have control over their activity. Thus, the proposition of Randel and colleagues is that perceptions of inclusion will lead to behavioural outcomes as for example creativity, job performance and reduced turnover (Randel et al., 2017, pp. 197-198).
The above discussed framework is interesting and useful for this thesis, because Randel and colleagues put forward in the beginning of their article that inclusive leadership can be beneficial for both diverse workgroups and homogeneous workgroups (Randel et al., 2017, p. 191). Furthermore, an article that is also about inclusion is the study by Shore et al. (2011) 'inclusion and diversity in work groups'. This article discusses similar ideas discussed in the article by Randel et al. (2017), which are inclusion in the work group as involving the satisfaction of both belongingness and uniqueness needs although with another framework (see Shore et al., 2011, p. 1276).
Nonetheless, these studies are about the perception of employees if it comes to inclusion in diverse workgroups, instead of possible differences between groups concerning their experience with transformational leadership. Consequently, as this sub-chapter (experience of employees with different backgrounds and transformational leadership) focuses on the perception of diverse employees about transformational leadership and not about inclusive leadership, we have to look further for articles that are more related to this sub-chapter. Accordingly, one article that discusses the perception of employees about transformational leadership is the study by Jacobsen and Andersen (2015), which is about the discrepancy between intended and perceived leadership. In their studies, the authors have tested the expectation that employee-perceived leadership has a stronger correlation with organizational performance than leader-intended leadership (Jacobsen and Andersen, 2015, p. 829). The result of their study was that leader-intended and employee-perceived transformational and transactional leadership are weakly correlated. Here, only employee-perceived leadership practices are significantly related to objectively measured school performance.
In their article, Jacobsen and Andersen (2015) examined the relationship between leader-intended leadership and employee-perceived leadership and how this is related to organizational performance. To investigate empirically this relationship the authors gathered data in Danish high schools. Those data were survey data from 79 school leaders (principals) and 1621 employees (teachers) (p. 830). Furthermore, in their article, Jacobsen and Andersen (2015) introduced a model that explains the relationship between leader-intended and employee-perceived leadership practices (p. 830). According to this model (Process Model of Leadership Practices), leader-intended practices are those practices that leaders believe will effectively evoke responses of employees that are desired. This model includes also actual practices. These are practices that leaders actually implement. This process comes after the leader-intended practices, because here leaders often face implementation challenges such as
16 time constraints, resistance or scarce resources. Furthermore, the model comprises employee-perceived practices. According to the authors, this process is even further from the leader-intended practices because of the fact that when leadership is perceived and interpreted subjectively by employees, they only see part of the leadership practices. Finally, the model includes organizational performance, which is the result of employees' behaviours according to their perception of leadership (Jacobsen and Andersen, 2015, p. 830). This model can be useful in this thesis, but it is not about the perception of different groups.
Furthermore, Ashikali and Groeneveld (2015) examined the perceptions of non-native and native Dutch groups within public sector organizations. As it is clear in their research, it is not about perception of employees about transformational leadership, but about the effects of diversity management on the extent that these groups feel that their organizational environment is inclusive. Thus, the research of Ashikali and Groeneveld (2015) is about the perception of inclusion by non-native and native Dutch groups instead of their perception of transformational leadership that is central in this thesis.
In conclusion, there are a number of articles about various aspects of diversity and transformational leadership. Yet there is no study that explicitly examines the diversity of leaders in the context of transformational leadership.
2.4 Summary theoretical framework
This chapter aimed to define leadership, summarize existing studies on the link between diversity and leadership, and develop an argument on how leader’s background might influence their use of transformational leadership practices. Leadership is defined in this study as influencing a number of dimensions: task objectives and strategies, commitment and compliance in task behaviour to achieve objectives, group maintenance and identification, and the culture of an organization. Transformational leadership has been defined as the behaviour of a leader that transforms and inspires employees to perform beyond expectations while transcending self-interest for the good of the organization. Transformational leadership has four components: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation; and individualized consideration.
About the effects of personal background on transformational leadership we discussed the articles of Eagly et al.; and the framework of Hofstede. In consequence, from these articles, we can formulate the following expectation:
• Supervisors with migration background behave differently than their counterparts (supervisors without migration background) which affects how they apply transformational leadership in the practice.
An argumentation behind the above expectation is that supervisors with migration background have had a different social environment than supervisors without migration background, what has an effect on their personal and professional development. In this case, we can thus expect that this personal and
17 professional development through the education and social environment influences the way they perform their leadership tasks.
Furthermore, Andersen and Jacobsen showed that the perception of employees may be a more accurate measurement of leaders behaviour than leaders’ own description of their behaviour. Therefore in this study we include both the perception of the leader and the employees to study transformational leadership. In this case, as the perception of leadership may vary considering the different background of employees, we can expect the following:
• If employees with migration background perceive and interpret the use of transformational leadership differently than employees without migration background, then the background of the employees has an effect on how they perceive the use (of the components) of transformational leadership by their supervisors.
3. Research design and data collection
This chapter is about the design of cases and data collection. Here, the concepts (personal background and transformational leadership) from the theoretical framework will be operationalized and the choice concerning the research method will be justified. Furthermore, this section will also explain the method of data collection of this thesis.
3.1 Case selection
In order to find out if the background of leaders is associated with their use of the components of transformational leadership, this thesis will collect data through interviews. Accordingly, it is very important to discuss how the cases will be selected for the interviews. The aim in this thesis is to select different leaders (in this thesis supervisors) and employees in different organizations in the public sector. To specify it, 6 supervisors and 12 employees in public sector organizations will be selected for interviews about the association of the background with the use of components of transformational leadership and the experience of the employees with the use of these components. The case selection is built up as follows: the 6 supervisors that will be selected are 3 male supervisors and 3 female supervisors in different organizations in the public sector. However, the most important criterion is that half of the supervisors is intended to be supervisors with migration background and the other half supervisors with non-migration background (gender is then here a control variable). The reason for the choice of mid-level leaders (in this thesis supervisors) is that the experience has taught that they are more accessible than leaders who are high in the hierarchy, but they are also the ones who are directly in contact with employees. They steer and motivate them in order to make sure that they are functioning according to their tasks and to achieve the organizational goals.
The public organisations where interviews will be held are: the Municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn (organisation 1), Both ENDS (organisation 2), Migrant Organisation Office Hour (Migranten Organisatie Inloopspreekuur) (MOI) and Maatvast (organisation 3), Ministry of Education, Culture and
18 Science (organisation 4), the Municipality of the Hague (organisation 5) and Police Amsterdam (organisation 6). The characteristics of the Municipalities of the Hague and of Alphen aan den Rhijn are that they are city governments that have direct contact with their citizens. In these organisations citizens can go for application for a passport, identity card, driving license, parking permit and so on (see denhaag.nl and alphenaandenrijn.nl). Moreover, Both ENDS works together with environmental justice groups from the Global South towards a sustainable, fair and inclusive world. The organisation gathers and shares information about policy and investments that directly affect people and their livelihood. Besides, the organisation engages in joint advocacy and stimulates dialogue between stakeholders. It also promotes and supports sustainable local alternatives (see bothends.org).
Police Amsterdam has as characteristics to guarantee the safety of the inhabitants of a city and to watch for public order. All in all, the Police protects the democracy, enforces the law and it is the authority on the street (see politie.nl). Furthermore, as the name says it, Migrant Organisation Office Hour is a foundation where different voluntary migrant organisations participate, such as foundation Marhaba and Somali foundation. The aim of the foundation is to support as many migrants as possible in their request for help. The types of help here are help in the neighbourhood and help in the own language of migrants where possible (see moi-haarlemmermeer.nl). Migrant Organisation Office Hour is partly made possible by foundation Maatvast. Maatvast strives to optimally enable residents and volunteers of Haarlemmermeer through its locations (places where the organisation is active) to improve and strengthen social cohesion (see stichtingmaatvast.nl). Lastly, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science works on a smart, skilled and creative Netherlands. It wants everyone to receive good education and to prepare for independence and responsibility. Furthermore, the Ministry wants everyone to experience culture and that teachers, artists and scientists can do their job (see rijksoverheid.nl). Supervisors who will be interviewed in the above described organisations are team leaders (Municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn, Both ENDS and the Municipality of the Hague) and department heads (MOI and Maatvast; Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; and Police Amsterdam).
In addition, diverse employees also have to be selected in order to investigate their experience on the use of the components of transformational leadership by their supervisors. Accordingly, the aim in this thesis is to select 12 employees of different public sector organizations. Here, I want to select employees in the organizations where I select supervisors. This means a set of three persons (1 supervisor and 2 employees) in each organization. This comes to 6 public organizations. Furthermore, employees with migration background and non-migration background will be selected (the selected employees per organisation will be labelled as A and B, A standing for employee with non-migration background and B standing for employee with migration background). One important reason behind this manner of selection of employees is that the thesis is also focused on employees with diverse backgrounds.
To seek respondents who meet the abovementioned criteria, I have tried to get entry in different organizations/foundations. These are first of all the organisations discussed above. Besides, the
19 following organizations were also contacted: The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Leiden University, the Municipality of Amsterdam, Province South-Holland and Alliander. These organisations were not willing to participate in the study due to different reasons such as not matching the selection criteria (for example no employee with migration background).
However, this response does not fully meet the criteria of the case selection. I could only find two organisations with supervisor with migration background, who were willing to participate to the research. These organizations are the Municipality of the Hague and Police Amsterdam. The other four organizations mentioned above were all with supervisors with non-migration background. With regards to employees, the criteria was met as each two employees of the abovementioned organisations that were interviewed were employees with migration and non-migration background.
3.2 Design
The design of this thesis is qualitative and comparative. This means that leaders with migration background and leaders without migration background will be compared to explore if their background may have some effect on their use of (the components of) transformational leadership in the practice. Moreover, employees will also be compared because their perception may be a more accurate measurement of actual leadership than the intentions of the leaders.
3.3 Method of data collection
Data will be collected through interviews with supervisors and their employees (sets of three persons) in six different public organisations. In the interviews supervisors will be asked a number of questions about their background and their use (of the components) of transformational leadership. The questions will be asked through a designed questionnaire and the interviews will be semi-structured. Additionally, employees will be asked a number of questions about their perceptions on the use of (the components of) transformational leadership by their supervisors. The interviews here will also be semi-structured. The interview guide will follow the operationalisation as it is explained in the following paragraph.
3.4 Operationalisation
This section provides an operationalization of the dependent (components of transformational leadership) and the independent (personal background) variables that are central in this thesis. This will be done through indicators. Looking at the central research question of this thesis, the key explanatory variable is the personal background of the leader. The variable can be operationalized through the following indicator: Dutch background vs migration background (this can be further composed in Western and non-Western background). According to CBS, a person with a Dutch background is a person whose both parents are born in the Netherlands. A person with a migration background is, according to CBS, one who is born in the Netherlands with at least one parent born abroad (CBS, 2019).
20 Supervisors can also be born abroad (they have then first generation migration background). Additionally, supervisors with second generation migration background are the one with at least one parent born abroad (Africa, America, Asia, Oceania and Europe). The dependent variable, transformational leadership, can be operationalized through its four components sketched by Bass et al. (2003): idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration and will be explained further below.
3.4.1 Indicators of dependent variable (Components of transformational leadership)
The indicators below are taken from the explanation of the four components of transformational leadership by Bass et al. (2003).
• Idealized influence - presence of admiration, respect and trust, considering followers needs above own needs, consistency for underlying ethics, values and principles, risks sharing. • Inspirational motivation - encouragement of individual and team spirit, leader's action
motivating followers by providing meaning and challenges to work, encouraging followers to imagine attractive conditions, presence of enthusiasm and optimism.
• Intellectual stimulation - stimulation of follower's effort of innovation and creativity, asking for new ideas and creative solutions to problems; and involvement in the process of dealing with problems and finding solutions.
• Individualized consideration - behaving as a coach or mentor, establishment of learning opportunities and recognition of individual differences in terms of needs and desires.
3.5 The coding process
In her book about analysing in qualitative research Hennie Boeije (2005) distinguishes between three types of coding: open coding, axial coding and selective coding (Boeije, 2005, p. 85). In this thesis, I made use of these classification by Boeije to code the data that I have collected in the six different organisations described above.
The first type of coding, open coding, is described as ‘breaking down, examining, comparing,
conceptualizing and categorizing data’ (p. 85). This means, according to Boeije (2005), that the
collected data are being read very carefully and divided in fragments. The relevant fragments are labelled and compared (Boeije, 2005, p. 85). The result of open coding is a list of codes (Boeije, 2005, p. 87).
The second type of coding (axial coding) refers to ‘a set of procedures whereby data are put
back together in a new ways after open coding, by making connections between categories’ (p. 98).
Axial coding stands for the coding around a single category (p. 98). According to the author, the purpose of axial coding is to decide what important and less important elements are in the research. Another purpose of this type of coding is also to reduce the amount of data and of the number of codes (Boeije, 2005, p. 99).
21 The third type of coding, selective coding, is according to Boeije (2005), ‘selecting the core
category, systematically relating it to other categories, and filling in categories that need further refinement and development’ (p. 105). After the open and axial coding, the researcher puts the data
together and adds structure to it. The important element here is the integration and the establishment of links between the categories (pp. 105-106).
In this thesis, the transcribed data about the components of transformational leadership were very carefully read in order to make up what are the relevant fragments per interviews and these were labelled (open coding). Then the labelled fragments were compared, where similar codes were merged and non-relevant codes were deleted in line with the operationalisation of the four components of transformational leadership (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration). The remaining codes were classified under the four components (dimensions) of transformational leadership (axial coding). After this, the remaining data were structured by integrating them and establishing a link between the dimensions (the four components of transformational leadership) (selective coding). In this phase, I have tried to explain the similarities and differences (patterns) between the interviewed supervisors in the way they use the four dimensions of transformational leadership. In the same way, I also have tried to explain the similarities and differences (patterns) between the employees per organisation in their perceptions of the use of the four dimensions of transformational leadership by their supervisors.
4. Empirical findings and data analysis
This chapter is about the empirical findings of the interviews with supervisors and their employees and the analysis of these findings. Accordingly, we will, first of all, discuss leadership in general, meaning how supervisors themselves describe their supervisor role. After this, we will discuss the perceptions of supervisors and their employees regarding the four components of transformational leadership; and the link between them (differences and similarities between supervisors and employees) about these components. Lastly, we will discuss in this chapter the association between the perceptions of supervisors and their employees about the components of transformational leadership and their background (migration and non-migration background).
4.1 Leadership in general: how the six supervisors perform their supervisor role
As explained in the section of the case selection, I have interviewed six supervisors in six different public organisations (four supervisors without migration background and two supervisors with migration background). To find out how they perceive their leadership behaviour in general they were asked the following question: how do you perform your leadership in general? This question gives good insights about how the supervisors themselves see their leadership. According to their answer, there are commonalities between them about how they described their leadership. Accordingly, the reoccurring themes here are coaching (individual employees) and guiding (setting the overall organizational goal).
22 For instance, the interviewed supervisor of the Municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn described her tasks as to give direction (guide) to employees, for example about what they want to achieve and where they (as organisation) are going. Moreover, she also emphasized coaching employees on their development and mobility. This means that she communicates with them in the way that it leads them to think about why they are doing things (inspirational communication). Here, she emphasized that it is very important for her that employees are working from intrinsic motivation.
Likewise, the interviewed supervisor of Both ENDS described her leadership too as coaching leadership, with the emphasis on steering. Steering in this case means giving steering questions and not giving directive tasks. Furthermore, the interviewed supervisors of Maatvast and Migrant Organisation Office Hour (Migranten Organisatie Inloopspreekuur) (MOI); and Police Amsterdam mentioned also coaching and guiding as being of the manners how they perform their leadership. This means that they try to help employees to achieve work-related goals and to develop themselves further. Besides, guiding in this case is to ensure that employees perform well their tasks by controlling their inputs regarding the activities of their team. Moreover, another commonality is between the interviewed supervisors of the Municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. They both emphasized that they try to inspire their employees in order to get the best out of themselves.
Moreover, the interviewed supervisors show also differences in the execution of their leadership. The supervisor of the Municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn for instance emphasized also facilitating as her task. This means to make sure that the working conditions are good, what can lead employees to perform their tasks optimally (servant leadership). While the supervisor of Both ENDS emphasized also to be responsible for the entire personnel policy and being team manager of the team leaders. Furthermore, besides coaching, the supervisor of Maatvast and Migrant Organisation Office Hour described also his leadership as authoritarian and innovative. This means that at one moment he is busy with coaching and at other moment he is authoritarian, but also innovative. Furthermore, he also gives others the voice to determine, before making decisions. Besides, he also listens a lot and talk little. Likewise, besides coaching and guiding, the interviewed supervisor of the Police Amsterdam mentioned that he also executes his leadership in dialogue and by controlling.
Finally, the more noticeable difference is the role of the interviewed supervisors of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Hague Municipality. The supervisor of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science described his role as trying to stimulate employees to achieve objectives. He also emphasized giving employees the possibility to develop without losing sight of the common output. On the other hand, the supervisor of the Hague Municipality mentioned that her role is to ensure that employees can work from their talent. She emphasized that her merely leadership style is to work from freedom and independence.
All in all, there can be concluded that all above described roles of the interviewed supervisors have some traits of transformational leadership. As explained in the paragraph about transformational leadership, this leadership style has two important traits: transformation and inspiration. Meaning that
23 transformational leadership is transforming and inspiring employees to perform better or beyond expectation. When we look at these two traits in light of the roles of supervisors, we can conclude that two supervisors describe their roles strongly in these terms, these are supervisors of the Municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. They both define their roles primarily as trying to transform and inspire their employees to perform better through coaching, giving them direction, stimulating and inspiring them by giving them the possibility to develop. Moreover, the roles of supervisors of the other four organisations show the transformational traits because they all try to transform their employees in order to perform better by coaching them and making sure that they perform their tasks well from their talent, but they emphasize also other aspects such as controlling, authoritarian, innovative and ensuring that employees can work from their talents.
4.2 Idealized influence
As discussed in the operationalization paragraph, the indicators of idealized influence are: presence of admiration, respect and trust, considering followers needs above own needs, consistency for underlying ethics, values and principles; and risks sharing. From the interviews it is shown that supervisors make use of these elements and that their employees also perceive that they use them. During the phase of selective coding of idealized influence, I have tried to develop codes according to these elements. Accordingly, I developed 5 codes in line of this operationalization, although they differ per supervisors how they full these indicators in. But in essence, the activities of supervisors regarding this first component and the perceptions of these activities by employees result in the above 5 indicators of idealized influence.
4.2.1 The use of idealized influence by supervisors
The principal pattern if it comes to the use of idealized influence by supervisors is that they all make use of this component, though in their own manner. In this context, we will discuss here the analysis of the elements of idealized influence through the questions that have been asked to the supervisors about them. Firstly, to understand how supervisors ensure that their employees admire them or if this element deems important to them, the following question was asked: ‘How do you ensure that your employees admire you?’ According to the answers of supervisors, we can constate some patterns of commonality and difference. The commonality here is that interviewed supervisors of Maatvast/MOI and Both ENDS gave similar answers about admiration as element of idealized influence. They both posit that you should admire each other equally as a person; as the supervisor of Both ENDS has formulated it: ‘With
admiration I see an imbalance and I would like it if we admire each other as human beings equally. And not because I have a certain function.’ Furthermore, the difference, according to the answers of
supervisors, is that the other supervisors have different answers about how they think about admiration. In this context, the supervisor of the Municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn put forward that she has perceived that her employees admire the fact that she gives them attention and creates clarity and space.
