Gabi Latimer

Lead 444
Hannah Scott
18 February 2021
Leadership in Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Industrial and Organizational Psychology can be described as helping companies through

the recruitment process, hiring, employee performance, helping inspire workplace motivation

and so many other things. What drew me to this field of IO Psychology was the options and

versatility. They can work in human resources, they can freelance, they can get a job within

management, or someone with this degree can dedicate their time to research in these areas to the

betterment of these departments. A person can take their passions and use scientific studies,

research and facts to contribute to the future of that field. Part of my interest in IO Psychology is

that a person has the opportunity to help the vulnerable populations of the world if they so

choose to and educate and share knowledge to propel change. This degree, this career path, this

life could take you all over the world or right down the street, but the beauty and benefit of the

career is the flexibility and variety it offers. Applying different ways to contribute to these areas

of life through leadership styles while learning from those who paved the way in IO Psychology

and understanding how it sets a person apart is just a part of opportunity available to someone

who takes this career path.

Leadership has many different definitions depending on who you ask, but one definition

is “an individual’s ability to influence and motivate others towards the success of the

organization of which they are members of” (Mittal). Most IO psychologists, I believe, think that

leadership is a quality that can be taught. They believe in making the world a better place by

healing the broken parts to create change and move forward. Because of their care and desire to
influence the future, the transformational leadership model, defined as “inspiring and

transforming followers by appealing to their ideals and emotions” (Mittal) fits right in. James

MacGregor Burns coined the term transformational leadership in 1978 in reference to his

research on political leaders (Creative Commons Attribution). Transformational Leadership

focuses on four parts: Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Individualized

Consideration, and Intellectual Stimulation (Janzen and Canaley). Essentially, you are

empowering people to be purpose driven, inspiring, genuinely caring for people, and challenging

them to be innovative and creative to fix problems and create solutions. Being a transformational

leader is great and important work, but I think that something more needs to be added to

encompass the influence that an Industrial and Organizational Psychologist can have. Cross-

Cultural Leadership combines the ability to motivate, influence, lead, and nurture behaviors in a

global community in order to succeed in a common goal. The Cross- Cultural theory is fluid and

requires different parts from some of the most well-known theories in order to compare and

contrast communication across diverse backgrounds, landscapes and cultures. For example, if

you are an IO Psychologist working as a United Nations ambassador across the world having an

understanding and respect for their culture and communication is vial. If you are working in

Atlanta, Georgia showing how to be a better co-worker and increase productivity in the

workplace maybe Servant or Transformational leadership would better serve, but no matter the

place, understanding the culture and traditions of their home is crucial to the success of your

research and results.

Pursuing a career in Industrial and Organizational Psychology can be dauting at times

because you have to find your niche. What do you care about? What are you passionate about?

Where in the world can you create change in an innovative way that will last? Some become
professors, some work for the United Nations, some dedicate their life to research, some become

speakers, some work in Policy and law, some freelance, but all of them are using psychology to

transform the things that they care about. Dr. McCall is a professor of management and

organization at the University of Southern California’s School of Business. In his research, he is

focused on developing the next generation of leaders. He has written a book called Highflyers,

where he challenges the conventional wisdom that the best executives possess a set list of traits

and proposes that successful executives are characterized by their ability to learn and adapt to

novel situations. Because of his passion to show future leaders how to step out into the world, his

leadership style is Transformational. He goes against social norms to say that being a leader is

not something you are born with, like The Great Man Theory suggests, but rather is grown,

nurtured, and developed within you as you adapt to the world.

Having this understanding that as humans we are not meant to be stagnant, we are not meant

to do this life alone, we are meant to grow, change, encourage and then go out and create that in

the places around us is at the very core of why this field is important to me. Industrial and

Organizational Psychology uses scientific studies and observation to impact the people that need

it most. Being able to apply leadership theories creates the spaces to better see, hear, and

understand the people that I will be working with. It will help me find my niche and thrive there.

When your career is focused on helping people, empowering people, understanding their

traditions and cherishing what makes them different, you have to be able to be a fluid leader. A

transformational, servant, situational, cross-cultural leader because they are all important parts of

how we have the chance to create change in the workplace, but also in life.

Industrial and Organizational Psychology is about finding creative and scientific ways to

heal the world. You find ways of bringing a research background, a care for the human race,
your academic endeavors, your management consultant skills, your business relations

knowledge, while also a cultural representative, and advocate for people in an area of the world

that needs it. To some, IO psychology is about being vulnerable and taking the extra steps to

make a lasting impact on the world or maybe even just making your backyard a better place, but

it all matters and that is what makes IO Psychology important.

 Resources

Creative Commons Attribution. “Transformational Leadership.” Transformational Leadership-

Anonymous, 2014.

Janzen, Mary Elizabeth. “TRANSFORMATIONAL Theory Page - PSY 532 Psychological

Foundations of Leadership (Dobbs).” Edited by Daniel Michael Canaley, Confluence,

2018, wikispaces.psu.edu/display/P5PFLD/TRANSFORMATIONAL+Theory+Page.

Mittal, Rakesh. “Charismatic and Transformational Leadership Styles: A Cross-Cultural

Perspective.” International Journal of Business and Management, vol. 10, no. 3, 2015,

doi:10.5539/ijbm.v10n3p26.