Montalbano Centre Faculty in Focus: Jon Evans

Responsible leadership is rooted in courage and long-term thinking. It takes courage for a leader to admit, “I don’t know, let’s figure this out together.” That vulnerability carries personal risk, as does the pursuit of new solutions that might not succeed. But tackling today’s complex challenges requires experimentation, reflection, and the willingness to make mistakes. Today, Responsible Leadership isn't just a good-to-have. It's an imperative.

Dr. Jon Evans, UBC Sauder Assistant Professor and Academic Director at the Montalbano Centre for Responsible Leadership Development, has been exploring these ideas in his research. In this Q&A, Dr. Evans reflects on curiosity in leadership, how we frame our relationship with work, and he also shares one important piece of advice to UBC Sauder alumni that can help them have a more fulfilling time at work.

We launched into the conversation with a piece of literature on 'storytelling' that got Dr. Evans excited.

JE: There's a paper I was reading that looks at something called 'narrative affordances.' It basically means the benefits we gain from narratives. There’s a lot of research on storytelling, and around what a story is and the purposes behind it. Some of the purposes the paper highlights include making meaning, persuading, coordinating, or just diffusing an idea.

What I find fascinating is that good leaders use storytelling as a tool to be influential and charismatic. But here's the tension: storytelling can accomplish both good AND terrible things. It can promote false ideas or harmful agendas. Storytelling itself isn’t inherently good or bad—it’s a tool or a means to an end. And that, to me, really emphasizes why we need responsible leaders. And not just any leaders, but responsible leaders who can use storytelling to accomplish good things rather than advance objectives that are harmful to people.

Does the concept of storytelling and charisma tie into your own research in any way?

JE: Yes, it does a little bit. One of my primary research areas is leader curiosity. Earlier in the Faculty in Focus series, Dr. Michael Daniels elaborated on humility in leaders. I think humility and curiosity make a really interesting combination for leaders. Humility has a longer history in published research, but curiosity is newer. I’ve done some initial work on what leader curiosity is, how leaders display it, and some foundational outcomes of curiosity in leadership.

There's an interesting connection between storytelling and curiosity: storytelling can be a way for leaders to arouse curiosity in others. But I also wonder if there's a paradox there. Storytelling, because it sequences events to make a point, might actually reduce people’s willingness to explore. By providing clarity and direction, it could unintentionally limit curiosity. That’s something I’m curious about in my own research.

Staying on the theme of literature … is there a book you recently read that piqued your interest?

JE: I recently read an excellent book called Alive at Work by Daniel Cable. He’s a fantastic researcher, and in the book he explores why so many workers feel unmotivated or unhappy. His main argument is that we need to activate people’s seeking system at work—the part that drives exploration—rather than just relying on the protective system.

One of the key ideas he discusses is the 'stories' we tell ourselves about why we work. If your story is simply “I work to earn a paycheque,” that won’t engage your seeking system. But if you tell yourself something along the lines: "My work contributes to helping others" - you've now switched to a narrative that's intrinsically motivating. For example, a janitor might think, “I just clean up so I can earn a paycheque.” Or, they could reframe it as: “I provide a happy, safe place for people to exist and work.” That story changes how you approach your work, how you think about it, and ultimately how you feel about it.

The book had quite an influence on my own framing of work. In fact, after finishing the book, I felt it was time to sit down and write out my own story … "why I do what I do" … so I can approach my work in a way that’s most fulfilling to me.

Would it be helpful if the UBC Sauder alumni reading this Q&A also revisited the story they tell themselves about work? And do they have to actually, physically write it down somewhere?

JE: I would encourage alumni to think about it in two ways. First, what is the story you currently tell yourself about your work? And second, what is the story you could tell yourself that would increase your engagement and excitement? It’s not just about identifying your current thinking, but imagining what you’d like it to be so that your work brings more happiness and energy.

This is important because work is a nearly daily occurrence of life. It’s easy to get caught up in routines or lose yourself in the chaos. Writing down your story is a starting point to making a change, if that’s needed. That’s why I think it’s important to actually go through the physical act of writing it down. If you just think about it once, it doesn’t have the same lasting impact. Writing and wrestling with words makes it real.

I do several exercises with students where they create their own vision statement of who they are as a leader. Some students initially roll their eyes and think it’s a little silly. But the more they open their minds and hearts, engage with it, and reflect on it over time, the more it becomes a meaningful influence in their lives.

Let's turn the spotlight to your own research now. Can you walk us through a couple of research questions that you've set out to explore?

JE: Much of my research focuses on 'signalling'—how leaders’ behaviours send signals to followers. One key question is: when leaders behave a certain way, what does it signal about them, and how does that influence followers’ perceptions and behaviour?

For example, I’ve studied humour at work. For men, expressing humour signals high status and strong leadership. But for women, it can have the opposite effect. I’ve also looked at anger. Particularly for Black women, showing anger is often judged more harshly - affecting perceptions of their leadership.

Another major question is how leaders signal 'power.' Leaders can emphasize that their power provides the ability to reward … like giving raises or opportunities … or they can emphasize that it provides the ability to punish. We found that signalling power as the ability to reward encourages followers to take risks, explore possibilities, and engage their 'seeking system,' which aligns with Daniel Cable’s work on activating curiosity and intrinsic motivation. Framing power positively can therefore enhance follower engagement and performance, while framing it as punishment can trigger protective behaviours that limit exploration.

You've brought up curiosity as a leadership trait a couple of times. What threads are you trying to follow in this realm?

JE: One of the big questions I’m exploring is about curiosity and leadership—specifically, how is a leader perceived when they show curiosity? I just submitted a manuscript showing evidence of how displaying curiosity changes follower behaviour.

Another angle is the signalling: when leaders ask questions or say, “I don’t know, I’d like to learn more,” they’re signalling that they're less aware or knowledgeable about something. That can be tricky, because intelligence is one of the strongest predictors of leadership emergence. People tend to respect leaders they see as knowledgeable.

So the big, overarching question I'm trying to answer is: when does showing curiosity undermine leadership perceptions … because people think the leader doesn’t know what they’re talking about? And when does it, instead, signal humility and relatability that in turn enhances perceptions of being leaderlike?

Why is this research important?

JE: This research is important because, today, there’s a tendency to rely on leaders who project an all-knowing persona: “I have the answers, I can solve it all.” But the problems we face now are complex and integrative. The best solutions come from good interaction between people, where ideas are shared, combined, and improved.

To make that happen, leaders need to bring people together and encourage exploration. And that means being willing to admit: “I don’t have all the answers.” That humility, like what Dr. Michael Daniels talked about in his Q&A, allows teams to collaborate in a way that produces new, innovative solutions. If a leader claims to know everything, it actually strains their credibility.

How can your research foster responsible leadership in people?

JE: Part of responsible leadership involves courage and long-term thinking. It takes courage for a leader to say, “I don’t know, let’s figure this out together.” There’s personal risk in admitting uncertainty, and also risk in exploring new solutions that might fail.

Long-term thinking is essential because tackling complex issues requires experimentation and the willingness to make mistakes. If leaders are focused only on the short term, such as "what can I put on my next review," they won’t take the risks needed to explore innovative solutions.

To the readers of this interview -- what advice do you have for them if they want to cultivate responsible leadership within themselves?

JE: Cultivating responsible leadership starts with clarifying your values. Too often, we let the loudest voices in our life dictate what we value. It’s important to be deliberate: write down your most important values and use them as a base for making decisions. Otherwise, over the years, you might end up somewhere determined by external forces, not by you.

I encourage students to reflect on their life experiences—where they were born, the schools they attended, the friends and family they had, the culture they grew up in, even the media they consume. Many of our values are shaped by these influences. Some of those values are worth keeping; others might have been imposed externally and may need adjustment. Values should be stable, but regular reflection helps you decide which to maintain and which to adjust. Those values should be the north star for anyone on the journey to becoming a responsible leader.

Over the course of the conversations we have had in the Montalbano Centre Faculty in Focus series with Dr. Michael Daniels, Dr. Rebecca Paluch, Dr. Lingtao Yu and now you, we've seen the role that the Montalbano Centre has played in providing a fertile ground for research. Can you expand on the centre's commitment towards helping create responsible leaders—and what other programs are in store?

JE: The Montalbano Centre does a lot to foster responsible leadership. Fundamentally, it supports and funds research on what it means to be a responsible leader and how a person can become one. We also facilitate more research by organizing panel sessions with academics and industry professionals to spark new projects.

There are many ways we implement this research to help people become responsible leaders. We run the mentorship program, fund and support the Future in Focus speaker series, and provide extracurricular training for undergraduate students, especially those in leadership roles who are figuring out how to lead well.

This coming academic year, we’re launching modules that train undergraduates in the four dimensions of our responsible leadership framework. We’re also developing a new outdoor leadership session for MBA students and working with UBC Sauder Professional Growth to create a responsible leadership certificate.

One of the things that helps implement change is getting out of your usual routines, stepping away from technology a bit, and engaging in deep reflection. Being put under a little stress can also allow growth and development in ways that wouldn’t happen otherwise. That’s part of the goal with our outdoor leadership program.