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PROVO — Most people don't like ghosts haunting them, but some businesses actually benefit from the lingering ghosts of leaders past.
The thought of ghosts floating around the office likely sends shivers down most people's spines, but not BYU management professor Jeffrey Bednar.
According to his new research, "organizational ghosts" are successful leaders of companies who continue to have a lasting impact on the company even after they have retired or passed away. Some well-known organizational ghosts whose presence can still be felt include Walt Disney, Steve Jobs and Coco Chanel.
Bednar said CEOs become these ghosts when they are seen as the cause of the organization's success and their memory becomes central to the organization's identity. Ghost-worthy leaders typically were also exemplary to work with, knowing all of the employees' names and showing care and concern for every person in the company.
"That combination of being incredibly competent and successful professionally but also being extremely good with people, enabled them to become ghosts," he said.
Bednar first became interested in organizational ghosts when he interned as an undergrad at Walmart headquarters. He was captivated by the influence founder Sam Walton had on the company, even though Walton died more than 10 years prior. Pictures, quotes and stories of Walton surrounded Bednar and the other employees and many in upper management would ask, "What would Sam do?" when dealing with situations, Bednar said.
"I became really interested and fascinated in how a leader can have an impact that transcends their time in an organization and even their death," Bednar said.
Bednar saw firsthand how a previous leader's spirit can live on in the culture of an organization. He decided to pursue this phenomenon further in his doctorate dissertation as a graduate student at University of Michigan.
He started collecting data by studying two book companies that were merging and sure enough, "ghostly encounters" from the two companies' former CEOs surfaced. Through interviews with employees and learning the histories of the organizations, Bednar found the ghosts of the former leaders continued to guide and shape the companies.
Years after completing his dissertation, Bednar and a University of Illinois colleague Jacob Brown continued to analyze the data. Their research, titled "Organizational Ghosts: How 'Ghostly Encounters' Enable Former Leaders to Influence Current Organizational Members," was accepted by the Academy of Management Journal this summer.
The research found that leaders can transform their leadership influence into a legacy "that will survive death and departure from the organization and continue to impact followers." Through both remembered and imagined experiences, organizational ghosts have an enduring effect.
Imagined experiences, Bednar said, include people envisioning how the leader would approach a situation, thinking about whether they would be proud, or picturing any other way the ghost would act if they were still here.
Bednar said it is crucial for leaders and individuals to not only understand the historical dynamics in organizations but also in our lives.
"Many of us, have ghosts that influence the way we think, the way we make decisions. I think that idea of being historically aware of and conscious of those people who have gone before us that still influence the way that we think and the way we behave — it just helps us to be more effective," he said.
New leaders of companies should be aware of the potential organizational ghosts' legacies they are following. Making organizational change without being conscious of those that have gone before them could cause negative reactions or challenges as a leader, Bednar said.
