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Associate Professor Nik Steffens
Associate Professor

Nik Steffens

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Phone: 
+61 7 334 69555

Overview

Background

Nik is Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Business and Organisational Psychology (CBOP) at UQ's School of Psychology. After studying and working in Germany, the UK, and Spain, he completed his PhD at the University of Exeter (UK) and joined UQ in 2012.

His research unpacks the psychology of teams and organisations: how shared identity and team processes shape leadership and followership, motivation and creativity, and health and well-being. He combines experiments, field, survey, and archival research, intervention trials, psychometric development, and systematic reviews / meta-analyses to generate informative and practical insights.

His work has been supported by industry–research partnerships with public and private organisations, Government, and the Australian Research Council (including a DECRA fellowship). With colleagues and industry collaborators, he co-developed the 5R leadership programme—recognised with the APS Workplace Excellence Award (Leadership Development)—to help develop people's leadership ability and enhance team functioning and well-being (https://tinyurl.com/adfu7xbu).

He is a co-founder of the Global Identity Leadership Development (GILD) network and serves on the editorial boards of The Leadership Quarterly and the European Journal of Social Psychology. He is co-editor (with Michelle Ryan and Floor Rink) of Organisational Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies (SAGE, 2023) (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/organisational-psychology/book269849).

Through research–practice partnerships, he offers data- and evidence-based consulting and organisational coaching (certified by the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership), helping organisations translate research into performance and wellbeing gains.

Availability

Associate Professor Nik Steffens is:
Available for supervision

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Exeter

Works

Search Professor Nik Steffens’s works on UQ eSpace

170 works between 2013 and 2025

161 - 170 of 170 works

2015

Journal Article

Believing in ‘us’: exploring leaders’ capacity to enhance team confidence and performance by building a sense of shared social identity

Fransen, Katrien, Haslam, S. Alexander, Steffens, Niklas K., Vanbeselaere, Norbert, De Cuyper, Bert and Boen, Filip (2015). Believing in ‘us’: exploring leaders’ capacity to enhance team confidence and performance by building a sense of shared social identity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 21 (1), 89-100. doi: 10.1037/xap0000033

Believing in ‘us’: exploring leaders’ capacity to enhance team confidence and performance by building a sense of shared social identity

2015

Journal Article

There is no leadership if no one follows: Why leadership is necessarily a group process

Platow, Michael J., Haslam, S. Alexander, Reicher, Stephen D. and Steffens, Niklas K. (2015). There is no leadership if no one follows: Why leadership is necessarily a group process. International Coaching Psychology Review, 10 (1), 20-37.

There is no leadership if no one follows: Why leadership is necessarily a group process

2015

Journal Article

'Of the group' and 'for the group': How followership is shaped by leaders' prototypicality and group identification

Steffens, Niklas K, Schuh, Sebastian, Haslam, S. Alexander, Perez, Antonia and van Dick , Rolf (2015). 'Of the group' and 'for the group': How followership is shaped by leaders' prototypicality and group identification. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45 (2), 180-190. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2088

'Of the group' and 'for the group': How followership is shaped by leaders' prototypicality and group identification

2015

Journal Article

Why a nudge is not enough: a social identity critique of governance by stealth

Mols, Frank, Haslam, S. Alexander, Jetten, Jolanda and Steffens, Niklas K. (2015). Why a nudge is not enough: a social identity critique of governance by stealth. European Journal of Political Research, 54 (1), 81-98. doi: 10.1111/1475-6765.12073

Why a nudge is not enough: a social identity critique of governance by stealth

2015

Journal Article

The neuroscience of inspirational leadership: the importance of collective-oriented language and shared group membership.

Molenberghs, Pascal, Prochilo, Guy, Steffens, Niklas K., Zacher, Hannes and Haslam, S. Alexander (2015). The neuroscience of inspirational leadership: the importance of collective-oriented language and shared group membership.. Journal of Management, 43 (7), 2168-2194. doi: 10.1177/0149206314565242

The neuroscience of inspirational leadership: the importance of collective-oriented language and shared group membership.

2014

Journal Article

Organizational tenure and employee performance: a multilevel analysis

Steffens, Niklas K., Shemla, Meir, Wegge, Juergen and Diestel, Stefan (2014). Organizational tenure and employee performance: a multilevel analysis. Group and Organization Management, 39 (6), 664-690. doi: 10.1177/1059601114553512

Organizational tenure and employee performance: a multilevel analysis

2014

Book Chapter

To lead, ASPIRe: Building organic organizational identity

Peters, Kim, Haslam, S. Alexander, Ryan, Michelle K. and Steffens, Niklas K. (2014). To lead, ASPIRe: Building organic organizational identity. Towards inclusive organizations: Determinants of successful diversity management at work. (pp. 87-107) edited by Sabine Otten, Karen van der Zee and Marilynn B. Brewer. New York, United States: Psychology Press.

To lead, ASPIRe: Building organic organizational identity

2014

Other Outputs

Incentives and Australians’ passport care

Greenaway, Katharine, Peters, Kim, Steffens, Niklas, Haslam, S. Alexander, Sanderson, Penelope and Tangen, Jason (2014). Incentives and Australians’ passport care.

Incentives and Australians’ passport care

2014

Journal Article

Leaders enhance group members' work engagement and reduce their burnout by crafting social identity

Steffens, Niklas K., Haslam, S. Alexander, Kerschreiter, Rudolf, Schuh, Sebastian C. and van Dick, Rolf (2014). Leaders enhance group members' work engagement and reduce their burnout by crafting social identity. Zeitschrift fur Personalforschung, 28 (1-2), 173-194. doi: 10.1688/ZfP-2014-01-Steffens

Leaders enhance group members' work engagement and reduce their burnout by crafting social identity

2013

Journal Article

Leader performance and prototypicality: their inter-relationship and impact on leaders' identity entrepreneurship

Steffens, Niklas K., Haslam, S. Alexander, Ryan, Michelle K. and Kessler, Thomas (2013). Leader performance and prototypicality: their inter-relationship and impact on leaders' identity entrepreneurship. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43 (7), 606-613. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.1985

Leader performance and prototypicality: their inter-relationship and impact on leaders' identity entrepreneurship

Funding

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2025
    Beyond burnout in anaesthetists: Prevalence and assessment of current strategies and supports for mental wellbeing
    Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthestists
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2026
    The impact of leader financial rewards on work group functioning
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2028
    ARC Research Hub to Advance Timber for Australia's Future Built Environment
    ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hubs
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    ARC Training Centre for Behavioural Insights for Technology Adoption (BITA) (ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre Administered by QUT)
    Queensland University of Technology
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2022 - 2023
    BHP-UQ Seed Collaboration on Advanced HR Analytics (Phase Zero and Phase One)
    BHP Billiton Limited
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2021
    House of Commons Online 5R Leadership Program - Phase 2
    UK House of Commons
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2023
    House of Commons Online 5R Leadership Program - Phase 3
    UK House of Commons
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2021
    House of Commons Online 5R Leadership Program - Phase 1
    UK House of Commons
    Open grant
  • 2020
    House of Commons 5R Training
    University of Exeter
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    Adjustment to retirement as a process of social identity change
    AustralianSuper
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    5R Leadership Development Program: Mackay Pilot
    Workcover Queensland
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2022
    How beliefs about others' social identification shape behaviour
    ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2019
    COMPASS - passport processing research project
    Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2020
    Adjustment to retirement through social identity change
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2017
    COMPASS - passport processing research project
    Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
    Open grant
  • 2013
    Leadership and Identity Development in Allied Health (LIDAH)
    Metro North Hospital and Health Service
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Associate Professor Nik Steffens is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Role of Social Identity in Leadership Coaching

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam

  • Doctor Philosophy

    From Privilege to Autocracy: The Hidden Costs of Inequality in Resource Distribution on Leadership Behaviors

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Identity leadership in action: An ethnographic approach to identify leadership behaviours in a professional football team

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam, Professor Cliff Mallett

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Scaling identity leadership: Pathways to the implementation of a social identity-based leadership development program

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Social identity processes affecting retirement from sport

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Catherine Haslam, Professor Alex Haslam

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

For media enquiries about Associate Professor Nik Steffens's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au