Entwicklung und Validierung eines Ambidextrie Führungsmodells - Ambidextre Führung in der öffentlichen Verwaltung

Organizations that are both successful in managing their current core business (exploitation) and in innovately shaping their future (exploration) are considered ambidextrous.
Ambidexterity research deals with the question of how organizations, managers and individuals handle competing, contradictory or irreconcilable goals and deal constructively with the associated tensions. The unpredictable developments and crises of recent years, such as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, have once again shown that all organizations have to deal with conflicting goals, uncertainty and paradoxes. Numerous studies have confirmed the positive effects of ambidexterity on the success parameters of organizations and attribute a major influence on the ambidexterity capability of their organisations to managers. However, there is a lack of scientific operationalisations that break down the theoretical construct of ambidexterity into observable leadership behaviours.
The aim of this quantitative research project was to develop and test an ambidextrous leadership model for effective leadership behaviour that is as concrete and action-guiding as possible. Based on proven theories from organizational, leadership and psychological research, it should provide concrete starting points on how managers can balance the different requirements of the core business and shaping the future, take on different roles and priorities depending on the contextual requirements, make necessary decisions and constructively manage contradictions and tensions with a both/and mindset. As an operationalisation of the leadership model, an assessment was constructed and empirically validated as a measuring instrument so that leadership behaviour can be observed, reflected upon, discussed and further developed on this basis. Both the leadership model and the assessment have been used in a large German authority, the Federal Employment Agency, since the beginning of 2022. Initial group comparisons have shown that the Ambidextrie leadership model can also be transferred to managers in other organizations and sectors.