Leigh Plunkett Tost

Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking

Leigh Plunkett Tost

Leigh is a post-doctoral research associate at the Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking at the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

Her research focuses on the psychological dynamics of power, status, and change within groups, and she examines how these dynamics play out in the contexts of leadership, organizational change, and moral behavior and judgment.

Her research has been accepted for publication in Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Personality and Social Psychology Review, Business Ethics Quarterly, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management, Research on Managing Groups and Teams, and International Journal of Conflict Management.

Prior to joining the Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking, Leigh obtained a PhD in management and organizations from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, a master’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. She lives in Seattle with her husband, Tony, who is a writer, and their two sons, Simon and Wyatt.

Read Leigh's CV

What I am working on at CLST:

I have a number of ongoing and new research projects that are keeping me busy here at CLST. Some of the new projects I’m working on include the following:

Investigations into the effects of the psychological experience of power and status on ethical behavior
Experimental investigations of how people attribute moral responsibility and accountability to leaders
Field research on the determinants of the effectiveness of strategic change efforts in the healthcare industry

Some of my ongoing research projects include:

Investigations of how power and status (both from a psychological perspective and from a sociological or structural perspective) impact willingness to take advice or give advice
Experimental research on how descriptions of organizational procedures as new versus established impacts how people evaluate those procedures (and how these differences impact people’s inclinations to change procedures or support the status quo)
Research on how a leader’s experience of power affects the types of influence behaviors that she or he is likely to engage

What I want to accomplish:

During my time at CLST, I’m hoping to broaden my methodological expertise by gaining greater experience into field research and multi-level modeling. I’m also excited to work with my colleagues here at CLST and in the Management & Organization Department on new and ongoing research streams that speak to the organizational dynamics of leadership and change.