Leaders that do not match followers’ implicit prototype of how a leader looks like or what makes an effective leader (e.g., in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation) are less likely to emerge as a leader, and experience negative biases in how their performance is evaluated after they have obtained a leadership position.

This research topic centers on illuminating when and why non-prototypical leaders suffer, and which factors improve chances of non-prototypical leaders to rise on the career ladder and be seen as effective.

The saying “People join firms but leave managers” suggests a key role of leaders in motivating, caring and retaining employees. Yet, employee burnout, stress, and poor well-being are at an all-time high, which is not only problematic for employees but also costly for firms and society.

Leadership has been identified as an important workplace determinant of employee well-being. Our research focuses on the contingencies and mechanisms of the relationship between leadership behaviors and characteristics and well-being.

Diversity in teams is a double-edged sword. Differences in nationality, gender, education, and other characteristics can boost team creativity, decision-making quality, and performance quality given the broadened pool of resources it entails. However, differences among team members may also lead to subgroups and conflict, undermining team functioning. Diversity thus requires active diversity management.

While diversity training promises to help manage diversity, it is not always effective. We examine under which conditions diversity training benefits team success.