Level up: the dynamic nature of leadership and management

Abstract

Organizations are broken into hierarchical levels of management and the nature of work changes as one ascends the hierarchy. There are several theoretical discussions and studies on how work changes by management level. The current investigation reviewed the literature on differences along the organizational hierarchy and compared levels on how the people in them differ, examining differences in personality, cognitive ability, experiences, and 360-degree feedback. A large, archival dataset was acquired from a large consulting firm consisting of over 4000 managers in three levels of management: supervisory, middle, and executive. Comparisons of levels were conducted on mean scores, rank order of scores on 360-degree feedback measures, correlations with performance criteria, and regression equations. Analyses revealed several mean differences between levels across factors of personality, ratings of competence in 360-degree feedback, experiences, and performance. Correlations with performance differed across levels as well as personality regression equations controlling for cognitive ability. A test of moderation found that level does not moderate relationships with performance though further research should be conducted. Overall, the results show significant differences between levels of management across a multitude of variables. Implications for selection and development are discussed.