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This study problematizes the prevailing normative and managerial-dominated view of self-initiated employee ambassadorship on social media from a power perspective. The aim is to provide a more nuanced and critical understanding of the negative aspects of this phenomenon.

The empirical material encompasses qualitative interviews with employees from 14 organizations and Foucault’s concept of disciplinary discursive power to analyze which and how discourses exert power over employee communication on social media and what role visibility plays in it.

This study indicates that employee ambassadors’ social media communication is governed by two discourses that create complex tensions, where ambassadors constantly must negotiate between self-branding requirements and an authenticity paradox. These tensions intensify through visibility on social media, where employees strategize and situationally silence their communication through self-monitoring and self-surveillance practices. Conclusively, the findings also outline the need for further critical research to offer a deeper understanding of power relations that influence the communication practices of organizational members.

The paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of self-initiated employee ambassadorship on social media and highlights disciplinary power relations that go beyond organizational borders.

The findings underscore that organizations need to address the critical aspects of self-initiated employee ambassadorship and act as facilitators to support employees in their navigation process.

This paper contributes a new critical power perspective on employee ambassadorship on social media.

This study aims to propose a novel theoretical model that connects leadership and followership styles. The primary objective is to develop and validate an instrument capable of measuring these constructs. The study then applies factor and correlation analyses to investigate the relationships among leadership and followership styles across diverse cultural contexts, represented by respondents from Armenia, Denmark, Germany and the United States of America.

The study employs a mixed-method approach, beginning with the development and validation of an instrument to measure leadership and followership styles. Following instrument development, factor and correlation analyses are conducted on data collected from 271 respondents from four different countries. This methodology allows for the identification of distinct leadership (autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire) and followership (compliant, collaborating and initiating) styles as well as the examination of their interrelationships.

Factor analysis reveals three distinct leadership and followership styles. Autocratic leadership positively correlates with compliant followership, while democratic leadership shows a positive association with collaborating followership. However, no significant correlation is found between laissez-faire leadership and initiating followership. Notably, collaborative followership demonstrates a positive association with all three leadership styles. These findings provide insights into the complex dynamics between leadership and followership styles across different cultural contexts.

This study offers a contribution by introducing a comprehensive theoretical model that illustrates the relationship between leadership and followership styles. Its innovative approach includes the development and validation of a unique instrument to measure these constructs across diverse cultural backgrounds. By uncovering distinct leadership and followership styles and their correlations, this study provides valuable insights for both academics and practitioners.