You can't always get what you want? Leadership expectations of intrapreneurs
Journal of Managerial Psychology
ISSN: 0268-3946
Article publication date: 5 September 2017
Issue publication date: 17 October 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership expectations of young employees in intrapreneurial jobs.
Design/methodology/approach
Group interviews were conducted with 42 young intrapreneurs and 13 leaders of a Dutch ICT consultancy firm. Data were coded and analyzed using qualitative data analysis software.
Findings
The authors find ten different expectations on leadership. Young intrapreneurs expect to have a personal connection, sufficient feedback, ample freedom, and trust, clear directions when asked and a leader who is a role model.
Research limitations/implications
This qualitative study was conducted in one organization. It however sheds a first light on expectations of employees with intrapreneurial job requirements.
Practical implications
In order to motivate and guide young intrapreneurs, direct supervisors should aim not to breach expectations. By getting to know their employees on a personal basis, taking the time to coach them in their career goals, showing intrapreneurship themselves, focusing on an open relationship, and providing a challenging and dynamic environment, direct supervisors build a strong and cooperative relationship.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to look at the relationship between direct supervisors and intrapreneurial employees. Doing so, it also expands the current knowledge of Implicit Leadership Theory by exploring expectations of young intrapreneurs and adds to the full-range leadership theory by showing the importance of investigating its subdimensions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are very grateful to the Instituut Gak, without whose funding the authors could not have done this research.
Citation
Deprez, J. and Euwema, M. (2017), "You can't always get what you want? Leadership expectations of intrapreneurs", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 32 No. 6, pp. 430-444. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-04-2016-0107
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited