Differentiating distributed leadership: introducing distributed professional development leadership and its motivational consequences

Traditional hierarchical approaches to governing and leading public professionals have not always proven successful, and integrative and hybrid perspectives on professionalism are therefore receiving increasing attention. This study integrates professional development leadership (PDL) and distributed leadership (DL) theory and introduces the concept of distributed professional development leadership (D-PDL). D-PDL implies that employees without formal leadership responsibilities are engaged in core PDL activities focused on facilitating and realizing a shared understanding of professionalism within the scope of organizational goals. The study theorizes that professionals’ engagement in D-PDL leads to more autonomous motivation than engagement in generic DL, which covers a broad range of leadership activities that are disconnected from the professional core task. Survey data from approximately 2,400 Danish medical doctors support the theoretical framework and show that doctors’ engagement in D-PDL is associated with more intrinsic motivation and public service motivation, whereas their engagement in generic DL is primarily associated with extrinsic motivation. The study emphasizes the relevance of moving PDL beyond a leader-centric concept and of distinguishing between different types of DL activities.