The Nature of Temporal Intelligence
in Leadership
15th European Congress of Work and Organizational
Psychology
27th May 2011
Andrew Doyle and Dr Jan Francis-Smythe
Centre for People at Work
University of Worcester
Temporal Intelligence (TI)
• Temporal Intelligence refers to a leader’s cognitions and behaviours
related to time with reference to the self and the individuals that he or
she is responsible for leading (Doyle & Francis-Smythe, 2009)
• Distinction drawn between a leader’s preferences for how they manage
their time and the temporal cognitions and behaviours directed to
individual followers
• 3 levels of analysis for time in leadership: leader, follower and leaderfollower relations (Bluedorn & Jaussi, 2008)
Development of Temporal Intelligence I
• Literature review of time, leadership and management
literature
• Repertory-grid interviews with leaders (n=16)
• Temporal Intelligence Questionnaire (TI-Q)
• Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability analysis of the
TI-Q (n=203 leaders)
• 8 factor solution retained (Parallel Analysis)
• Analysis between the TI-Q, NEO PI-R and MLQ (n= 85
leaders)
Temporal Intelligence Model
Temporal Intelligence
Self-Referenced
Temporal Practices
Follower-Referenced
Temporal Practices
Time Personality and Job Role Characteristics
Pace
Deadline Orientated Behaviour
Autonomy
Flexing Speed and Quality
Breaks in Workflow
Autocratic Leadership
Temporal Depth
Factor
Number
Factor Name
Variance
explained
Number of
Items
Cronbach’s
a
Mean (SD)
1
Time Personality
and Job Role
Characteristics
14.4%
10
.878
5.53 (.63)
2
Pace
5.1%
14
.809
4.31 (.77)
3
Deadline
Orientated
Behaviour
4.8%
13
.894
5.41 (.81)
4
Autonomy
3.1 %
9
.754
5.28 (.73)
5
Flexing Speed
and Quality
2.5%
7
.705
4.67 (.84)
6
Breaks in
Workflow
2.2%
6
.769
4.87 (.97)
7
Autocratic
Leadership
2%
9
.710
2.65 (.75)
8
Temporal Depth
1.8%
10
.753
5.62 (.59)
TI: Time Dimensions I
• Time Personality and Job Role Characteristics
Definition: Awareness of the temporal preferences of individual and
job characteristics relating to Punctuality, Planning, Polychronicity and
Impatience
Process of awareness is a pre-requisite of a leader’s behavioural
repertoire:
Develop a facilitative role in fostering a congruent fit between the
follower’s individual time related behaviours and the time related
characteristics of the work experienced by the follower
Temporal Intelligence in Leadership:
Temporal Congruence
Relevance to outcome variables: Empirical time congruence studies
showing positive effects on outcome variables such as performance
and well-being for specific temporal dimensions (Francis-Smythe &
Robertson, 2003; Hecht & Allen, 2003; Hecht & Allen, 2005;
Slocombe & Bluedorn; 1999)
Process of entrainment (Bluedorn & Jaussi, 2008; McGrath &
Rotchford, 1983) to facilitate a congruent temporal fit
Behavioural examples of leader’s role within the entrainment process
and the use of zeitbergers
TI: Time Dimensions II
• Pace
Definition: The extent to which the leader consistently has high
expectations of their followers’ work. This includes expectations in
both speed and quality of work.
Relevance to outcome variables: Organisational culture
• Deadline orientated behaviour
Definition: The leader’s monitoring of followers work within the
deadline lifespan and responsive actions to an achieved and missed
deadline.
Relevance to outcome variables: group literature, time pressure and
deadlines
TI: Time Dimensions III
• Autonomy
Definition: The leader’s expectations and behaviours that influence
the degree to which followers are autonomous in their work activities.
Relevance to outcome variables: Job Design, Leadership
• Flexing Speed and Quality
Definition: The degree to which a leader flexibly changes their
emphasis on speed in relation to quality of their followers’ work.
Relevance to outcome variables: Organisational pace, Decision
Making
TI: Time Dimensions IV
•
Breaks in Workflow
Definition: The leaders’ role in guiding the occurrence of socially orientated breaks in
the workplace among followers.
Relevance to outcome variables: Interruptions, creativity, timelessness
•
Autocratic Leadership
Definition: The extent to which the leader is independent and is not influenced by their
followers’ opinions in the decision-making process.
•
Temporal Depth
Definition: The leader’s reflection in the past, living in the present and projecting to the
future in relation to interactions with his or her followers. This scale considers the
extent to which the leader simultaneously uses different time perspectives.
Relevance to outcome variables: Time perspectives, decision-making
Future Directions
• Further research into temporal congruence and outcome variables
• Closer examination into how leaders ‘Time Personality and Job Time
Characteristics awareness’ can lead to adaptive behaviours and
subsequent effects on outcome variables
• Further convergent and divergent analyses with TI-Q, and Intelligence
measures, and other related measures
• Temporal Intelligence in a group context
References
Bluedorn, A. C. and Jaussi, K. S. (2008). Leaders, Followers, and Time. Leadership Quarterly, 19, 654668.
Doyle, A. & Francis-Smythe, J. (2009, May). Temporal Intelligence. Paper presented at 14th Conference
of the European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology. Santiago de Compostela.
Francis-Smythe, J. A. & Robertson, I. T. (2003). The Importance of Time Congruity in the Organisation.
Applied Psychology: An International Review, 52(2), 298-321.
Hecht, T. D., & Allen, N. J. (2003). Person-Job fit on the dimension of polychronicity: Examining links
with well-being and performance. Paper presented at the Academy of Management.
T.D. Hecht, N.J. Allen (2005). Exploring links between polychronicity and well-being from the
perspective of person-job-fit: Does it matter if you prefer to do only one thing at a time?
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 98 pp.155 - 178.
McGrath, J. E., & Rotchford, N. L. (1983). Time and behavior in organizations. In L. L.
Cummings & B. M. Straw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 5, pp. 57101). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Slocombe, T. E., and Bluedorn, A. C. (1999). "Organizational Behavior Implications of the Congruence
between Preferred Polychronicity and Experienced Work-Unit Polychronicity." Journal of
Organizational Behavior, 20, 75-99.