Speaker: Dr Nathan Eva
Title: The inconvenient truth about publishing a leadership article with an inconvenient truth
Date: Thursday, 5 March 2026
Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Venue: Building 26C, CBE, Allan Barton Forum
Karryna Madison is the host of this visit.
Abstract:
7 years ago, we had an idea to pit 12 different leadership styles against each other to see which comes out the best in what context and for what outcome. We used 4,000 participants from five countries and multiple industries to examine 50 covariates. What I thought would be an easy sell for reviewers in a field saying they wanted to address leadership construct proliferation turned out to be a paper that took more time than my PhD studies.
Despite encouragement from editors who liked the idea of the articles and 5 journals sending it out for review - the research was continuously torn apart – from being too wide to too narrow – for being too radical to telling us what we already know – for questioning their leadership style and not questioning another.
Then came Durham’s journal – Journal of Management Studies – who took a chance on the article. Across 3 ½ years, 7 revisions, 189 pages of responses to reviews, 145 pages of unique writing – half of which didn’t make the final manuscript, 75 pages of supplemental materials, and 3 reviewers who didn’t like each other’s suggestions to the point one “unaccepted” the article in round 5, it has finally seen the light of day.
This is not a presentation about the research – you can read that (or at least the abstract – it’s a long paper). This is a presentation about the process. How the paper evolved, our strategies for responding to reviewers who fundamentally disagreed with each other how research should be done, and the material that was taken out of the paper.
Nathan Eva Bio:
Professor Nathan Eva is a Fulbright Scholar within the Department of Management at Monash Business School. His research on servant leadership and leadership development demonstrates how focusing on followers can drive sustainable business success while creating thriving, inclusive workplaces and communities. His peer-reviewed work appears in top-tier international outlets such as The Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Organizational Behavior. He has held board and chair positions for the International Leadership Association’s Leadership Education Academy and Scholarship Stream, as well as the Network of Leadership Scholars.
What does it mean to be a scholar?
During this interactive session, Profesor Eva will assist participants in developing their brand as scholars. First, participants will start to develop a scholar identity in order to communicate this clearly in job applications and talks (i.e., what will I be famous for). Second, participants will reflect on strategies and the directions to take for the career that they want (i.e., where do I want to be known). Finally, practical strategies will be shared on how to build their scholarship network (i.e., how to get known).