Michelle C. Bligh is an Associate Professor in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University. She received her doctorate in Management and Organizational Behavior from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her research interests focus on organizational culture and the role of leaders in influencing and changing corporate cultures, particularly in post-merger organizations. In addition, her research interests include charismatic leadership, interpersonal trust, and political and executive leadership.

Her work has been published in Journal of Applied Psychology, Leadership, Employee Relations,The Leadership Quarterly, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Group and Organization Management, Journal of Managerial Psychology, and The Journal of Business Ethics, and she was awarded the 2003 Sage Outstanding Paper Award for Research Methods. She serves on the editorial review board of The Leadership Quarterly and is co-editor of a 2007 special issue ofApplied Psychology: An International Review on follower-centric approaches to leadership. She recently co-edited a book titled Follower-Centered Perspectives on Leadership: A Tribute to the Memory of James R. Meindl as part of the Leadership Horizons series.

Dr. Bligh has helped a variety of public and private sector organizations assess and improve their effectiveness in the areas of leadership development, organizational culture, and change management. Through her work at the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College, the Center for International Leadership in Buffalo, New York, and the Center for Leadership Innovation and Mentorship Building (CLIMB) at California State University San Marcos, she has worked in a number of industries, including local and state law enforcement, consulting, healthcare, and real estate. Dr. Bligh received her B.A. in Anthropology from Pomona College and her M.S. in Organizational Culture and Communication from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

• • E-mail address michelle.bligh@cgu.edu.

  • Organizational Behavior and Positive Organizational Psychology Programs at CGU

  • An interview with Dr. Bligh from a recent edition of CGU's Flame Alumni Magazine

Selected Publications

*Links below will allow anyone visiting from the network of any university with licensed access to download a copy of each article. If you experience any difficulty or have a question regarding Dr. Bligh's publications, please email us.

Al-Ani, B., Horspool, A., & Bligh, M. C. (August, 2011). Collaborating with ‘Virtual Strangers’: Towards Developing a Framework for Leadership in Distributed Teams. Leadership, 7(3).

Bligh, M. C. (2010). Followership and Follower-Centred Approaches. In Bryman, A., Grint, K., Jackson, B., Uhl-Bien, M., & Collinson, D. (Eds.), Sage Handbook of Leadership (pp. 1180-1216). London, UK: Sage.

Deng, B. H., Bligh, M. C., & Kohles, J. C. (2010). To Err is Human, To Lead is Divine? The Role of Leaders in Learning from Workplace Mistakes. In Schyns, B. & Hansbrough, T. (Eds.), When Leadership Goes Wrong: Destructive Leadership, Mistakes and Ethical Failures. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Bligh, M. C., & Robinson, J. L. (2009). Was Gandhi "Charismatic"? Exploring the Rhetorical Leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. The Leadership Quarterly.

Pillai, R., Kohles, J.C., Bligh, M. C., Carston, M., & Brodowsky, G. (2009). Leadership in "Confucian Asia": Similarities and Differences of Justice, Trust, and Leadership Outcomes in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Proceedings of the Eastern Academy of Management International Conference, Rio de Janeiro.

~Winner of the 2009 John Yanouzas Outstanding Paper Award.

Bligh, M. C., & Kohles, J. C. (2009). The Enduring Allure of Charisma: How Barack Obama Won the Historic 2008 Presidential Election. The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 483-492.

O’Connell, W., & Bligh, M. C. (2009). Emerging from Ethical Scandal: Can Corruption Really Have a Happy Ending?Leadership, 5(2), 213-235.

Ferrin, D. L., Bligh, M. C., & Kohles, J. C. (2007). Can I Trust You to Trust Me? A Theory of Trust, Monitoring, and Cooperation in Interpersonal and Intergroup Relationships. Group and Organization Management, 32(4), 465-499.

Bligh, M. C., & Hess, G. D. (2007). The Power of Leading Subtly: Alan Greenspan, Rhetorical Leadership, and Monetary Policy. The Leadership Quarterly.