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Showing papers on "Transactional leadership published in 2003"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Both transformational and transactional contingent reward leadership ratings of platoon leaders and sergeants positively predicted unit performance.
Abstract: How do leadership ratings collected from units operating under stable conditions predict subsequent performance of those units operating under high stress and uncertainty? To examine this question, the authors calculated the predictive relationships for the transformational and transactional leadership of 72 light infantry rifle platoon leaders for ratings of unit potency, cohesion, and performance for U.S. Army platoons participating in combat simulation exercises. Both transformational and transactional contingent reward leadership ratings of platoon leaders and sergeants positively predicted unit performance. The relationship of platoon leadership to performance was partially mediated through the unit's level of potency and cohesion. Implications, limitations, and future directions for leadership research are discussed.

2,727 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of 45 studies of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles found that female leaders were more transformational than male leaders and also engaged in more of the contingent reward behaviors that are a component of transactional leadership.
Abstract: A meta-analysis of 45 studies of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles found that female leaders were more transformational than male leaders and also engaged in more of the contingent reward behaviors that are a component of transactional leadership. Male leaders were generally more likely to manifest the other aspects of transactional leadership (active and passive management by exception) and laissez-faire leadership. Although these differences between male and female leaders were small, the implications of these findings are encouraging for female leadership because other research has established that all of the aspects of leadership style on which women exceeded men relate positively to leaders' effectiveness whereas all of the aspects on which men exceeded women have negative or null relations to effectiveness.

2,161 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A causal theory of spiritual leadership is developed within an intrinsic motivation model that incorporates vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love, theories of workplace spirituality, and spiritual survival as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A causal theory of spiritual leadership is developed within an intrinsic motivation model that incorporates vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love, theories of workplace spirituality, and spiritual survival. The purpose of spiritual leadership is to create vision and value congruence across the strategic, empowered team, and individual levels and, ultimately, to foster higher levels of organizational commitment and productivity. I first examine leadership as motivation to change and review motivation-based leadership theories. Second, I note the accelerating call for spirituality in the workplace, describe the universal human need for spiritual survival through calling and membership, and distinguish between religion and spirituality. Next, I introduce a generic definition of God as a higher power with a continuum upon which humanistic, theistic, and pantheistic definitions of God can be placed. I also review religiousand ethics-and-values-based leadership theories and conclude that, to motivate followers, leaders must get in touch with their core values and communicate them to followers through vision and personal actions to create a sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership. I then argue that spiritual leadership theory is not only inclusive of other major extant motivationbased theories of leadership, but that it is also more conceptually distinct, parsimonious, and less conceptually confounded. And, by incorporating calling and membership as two key follower needs for spiritual survival, spiritual leadership theory is inclusive of the religious- and ethics and valuesbased approaches to leadership. Finally, the process of organizational development and transformation through spiritual leadership is discussed. Suggestions for future research are offered.

1,977 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article reviewed the conceptual and empirical development of instructional and transformational leadership models and concluded that the suitability or effectiveness of a particular leadership model is linked to factors in the external environment and the local context of a school.
Abstract: Over the past two decades, debate over the most suitable leadership role for principals has been dominated by two conceptual models: instructional leadership and transformational leadership. This article reviews the conceptual and empirical development of these two leadership models. The author concludes that the suitability or effectiveness of a particular leadership model is linked to factors in the external environment and the local context of a school. Moreover, the paper argues that the definitions of the two models are also evolving in response to the changing needs of schools in the context of global educational reforms.

1,719 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined the potential of active collaboration between principals and teachers to enhance the quality of teaching and student performance, and found that transformational leadership is a necessary but insufficient condition for instructional leadership.
Abstract: Focusing on school leadership relations between principals and teachers, this study examines the potential of their active collaboration around instructional matters to enhance the quality of teaching and student performance. The analysis is grounded in two conceptions of leadership—transformational and instructional. The sample comprises 24 nationally selected restructured schools—8elementary, 8middle, and 8high schools. In keeping with the multilevel structure of the data, the primary analytic technique is hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The study finds that transformational leadership is a necessary but insufficient condition for instructional leadership. When transformational and shared instructional leadership coexist in an integrated form of leadership, the influence on school performance, measured by the quality of its pedagogy and the achievement of its students, is substantial.

1,636 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a multisource approach is used to collect survey data from 32 Taiwanese companies in the electronics/telecommunications industry in order to investigate how top managers' leadership styles directly and indirectly affect their companies' innovation.
Abstract: A wide range of factors has been found to affect organizational innovation. Of these, top managers' leadership style has been identified as being one of the most, if not the most, important. Yet, few studies have empirically examined the link between this factor and innovation at the organizational level. This study builds on the extant literature to propose four hypotheses about how top managers' leadership styles directly and indirectly (via empowerment and organizational climate) affect their companies' innovation. A multisource approach is used to collect survey data from 32 Taiwanese companies in the electronics/telecommunications industry. The findings support a direct and positive link between a style of leadership that has been labeled as “transformational” and organizational innovation. They also indicate that transformational leadership has significant and positive relations with both empowerment and an innovation-supporting organizational climate. The former is found to have a significant but negative relation with organizational innovation, while the latter has a significant and positive relationship. The implications of the findings and possible directions for future research are discussed.

1,431 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Using a sample of 888 bank employees working under 76 branch manages, the authors found that transformational leadership was positively related to both followers' dependence and their empowerment and that personal identification mediated the relationship betweentransformational leadership and followers' dependent on the leader.
Abstract: Followers' identification with the leader and the organizational unit, dependence on the leader, and empowerment by the leader are often attributed to transformational leadership in organizations. However, these hypothesized outcomes have received very little attention in empirical studies. Using a sample of 888 bank employees working under 76 branch manages, the authors tested the relationships between transformational leadership and these outcomes. They found that transformational leadership was positively related to both followers' dependence and their empowerment and that personal identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' dependence on the leader, whereas social identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' empowerment. The authors discuss the implications of these findings to both theory and practice.

1,287 citations


01 Nov 2003
Abstract: Amidst the seeming certainty that leadership matters, there is much that we do not yet understand about effective educational leadership. However, the knowledge base about leadership is constantly growing. In this brief, we present a summary of key, well-documented understandings about leadership at the school level. This knowledge can be used with confidence to guide leadership practice, policy, and research. It can help address concerns about school leaders’ preparation and performance. It also can provide a good starting point for dialogue with diverse audiences about the future of educational leadership.

1,202 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper conducted an interview-based study aimed at defining the perceived content domain of executive ethical leadership and found that ethical leadership is more than traits such as integrity and more than values-based inspirational leadership.
Abstract: Senior executives are thought to provide the organization’s ethical ‘tone at the top’. We conducted an inductive interview-based study aimed at defining the perceived content domain of executive ethical leadership. We interviewed two types of key informants - corporate ethics officers and senior executives - about executive ethical leadership and then a contrasting category we labeled ‘ethically neutral’ leadership. Systematic analysis of the data identified multiple dimensions of ethical and ethically neutral leadership. The findings suggest that ethical leadership is more than traits such as integrity and more than values-based inspirational leadership. It includes an overlooked transactional component that involves using communication and the reward system to guide ethical behavior. Similarities and differences between ethics officers’ and senior executives’ perceptions also led to insights about the importance of vantage point and social salience in perceptions of executive ethical leadership. In orde...

1,072 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review will highlight representative studies where the transactional model has been explicitly or implicitly tested in studies relevant to developmental psychopathology, including experimental, quasiexperimental, and naturalistic designs.
Abstract: Transactional models have informed research design and interpretation in studies relevant to developmental psychopathology. Bidirectional effects between individuals and social contexts have been found in many behavioral and cognitive domains. This review will highlight representative studies where the transactional model has been explicitly or implicitly tested. These studies include experimental, quasiexperimental, and naturalistic designs. Extensions of the transactional model have been made to interventions designed to target different aspects of a bidirectional system in efforts to improve developmental outcomes. Problems remain in the need to theoretically specify structural models and to combine analyses of transactions in the parent-child relationship with transactions in the broader social contexts. Longitudinal studies with sufficient time points to assess reciprocal processes continue to be important. Such longitudinal investigations will permit identifying developmental periods where the child or the context may be most influential or most open to change.

755 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The social identity model of organizational leadership, proposed by as discussed by the authors, emphasizes the characteristics of the leader as a group member, and the leader's ability to speak to followers as group members, and provides a viable framework to integrate future developments in research on leadership such as a growing attention to leader fairness and the role of emotions in leadership effectiveness.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There has been an explosion in the amount of research on leadership in a cross-cultural context over the last several years as mentioned in this paper, and they describe major advances and emerging patterns in this research domain.
Abstract: It is almost cliche to say that there has been an explosion in the amount of research on leadership in a cross-cultural context. In this review, we describe major advances and emerging patterns in this research domain over the last several years. Our starting point for this update is roughly 1996–1997, since those are the dates of two important reviews of the cross-cultural leadership literature [specifically, House, Wright, and Aditya (House, R. J., Wright, N. S., & Aditya, R. N. (1997). Cross-cultural research on organizational leadership: A critical analysis and a proposed theory. In: P. C. Earley, & M. Erez (Eds.), New perspectives on international industrial/organizational psychology (pp. 535–625). San Francisco, CA) and Dorfman (Dorfman, P. W. (1996). International and cross-cultural leadership research. In: B. J. Punnett, & O. Shenkar (Eds.), Handbook for international management research, pp. 267–349, Oxford, UK: Blackwell)]. We describe the beginnings of the decline in the quest for universal leadership principles that apply equivalently across all cultures, and we focus on the increasing application of the dimensions of culture identified by Hofstede [Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values (Abridged ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage] and others to describe variation in leadership styles, practices, and preferences. We also note the emergence of the field of cross-cultural leadership as a legitimate and independent field of endeavor, as reflected in the emergence of publication outlets for this research, and the establishment of long-term multinational multi-investigator research programs on the topic. We conclude with a discussion of progress made since the two pieces that were our departure point, and of progress yet to be made.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the relationship between teacher leadership and distributed leadership, focusing particularly upon the idea of activity theory. But they also discussed the possible sources of resistance to the notion of teachers as leaders in schools and explored how distributing leadership to teachers may contribute to building professional learning communities within and between schools.
Abstract: This article focuses on the issue of teacher leadership and explores various interpretations and definitions within the literature. It examines the relationship between teacher leadership and distributed leadership, focusing particularly upon the idea of activity theory. The article suggests that there are some important connections and overlaps between distributed leadership and teacher leadership. The article also discusses the possible sources of resistance to the idea of teachers as leaders in schools and explores how distributing leadership to teachers may contribute to building professional learning communities within and between schools.

Book
01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the power of emotional intelligence in the formation of a leader and its application in the creation of sustainable change in the context of EI versus IQ.
Abstract: Preface Acknowledgments Part I The Power of Emotional Intelligence 1. Primal Leadership 2. Resonant Leadership 3. The Neuroanatomy of Leadership 4. The Leadership Repertoire 5. The Dissonant Styles: Apply with Caution Part II Making Leaders 6. Becoming a Resonant Leader: The Five Discoveries 7. The Motivation to Change 8. Metamorphosis: Sustaining Leadership Change Part III Building Emotionally Intelligent Organizations 9. The Emotional Reality of Teams 10. Reality and the Ideal Vision: Giving Life to the Organization's Future 11. Creating Sustainable Change Appendix A EI versus IQ: A Technical Note Appendix B Emotional Intelligence: Leadership Competencies Notes Index About the Authors

Book
01 Jul 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a mental representation of a leader's behavior, linking perception to WSC activation and the working self-concept and behavior of the leader with respect to a leader.
Abstract: Contents: A.P. Brief, J.P. Walsh, Series Foreword. Preface. Common Sense, Science, and Leadership. The Working Self-Concept and Behavior. Level and Self-Concept. Temporary and Enduring Effects of Leaders. Generating a Mental Representation of a Leader's Behavior: Linking Perception to WSC Activation. Leadership and Emotions. With C. Selenta, Leadership and Organizational Justice. The Value Added by a Second-Order, Subordinate-Focused Approach to Understanding Leadership Processes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors integrate the transformational leadership literature with the organizational knowledge literature, and show that Transformational leadership may be more effective at creating and sharing knowledge at individual and group levels, while transactional leadership is more effective in exploiting knowledge at the organizational level.
Abstract: Strategy scholars have argued that managing knowledge effectively can provide firms with sustainable competitive advantages. Leaders are central to the process of managing knowledge effectively. Managing knowledge includes three key processes: creating, sharing, and exploiting knowledge. Leaders are central to each of these processes at multiple levels of the firm. Examining the role of leadership in converting knowledge into competitive advantages is important to our understanding of leaders and organizations. Transformational leadership may be more effective at creating and sharing knowledge at the individual and group levels, while transactional leadership is more effective at exploiting knowledge at the organizational level. This paper begins to integrate the transformational leadership literature with the organizational knowledge literature.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the moderating effect of collectivism on the relationship between transformational leadership and work-related outcomes, such as facets of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and perceptions of organizational withdrawal behaviours.
Abstract: Previous cross-cultural research on transformational leadership has focused mainly on replicating the augmentation effects of transformational leadership over transactional leadership on followers' attitudes and behaviours Relatively few studies have systematically examined cultural impacts in moderating the influence of transformational leadership on work-related outcomes taking a cross-cultural perspective Using a field survey of 577 employees from banking and financial sectors in three emerging economies, namely: China, India and Kenya, we examined the moderating effect of collectivism on the relationships between transformational leadership, work-related attitudes and perceptions of withdrawal behaviours Our results found support for the moderating effect of collectivism on the relationship between transformational leadership and work-related outcomes, such as facets of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and perceptions of organizational withdrawal behaviours In addition, our results lend

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined the effects of transformational school leadership on the commitment of teachers to school reform, and the effort they are willing to devote to such reform by building on the knowledge from both educational and non-educational research into such effects.
Abstract: This article examines the effects of transformational school leadership on the commitment of teachers to school reform, and the effort they are willing to devote to such reform. It does so by building on the knowledge from both educational and non‐educational research into such effects. A model of such effects is tested using two approximately comparable sets of data collected from samples of Canadian and Dutch teachers. Structural equation modeling is applied to test the model within each data set. Results of the Canadian and Dutch studies are then compared. The findings show transformational leadership dimensions to affect both teachers’ commitment and extra effort. The effects of the dimension's vision building and intellectual stimulation appear to be significant in particular. Overall, the findings clearly indicate the importance of analyzing dimensions of transformational leadership for their separate effects on teacher commitment and extra effort within the context of educational reform.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the meaning of leadership in a research and development (R&D) company and show how initial claims about leadership values and style tend to break down when managers are asked to expand on how they perceive their leadership and account for what they actually do in this respect.
Abstract: We address ideas and talk about leadership in a research and development (R&D) company. The meaning that middle and senior managers ascribe to leadership is explored. We show how initial claims about leadership values and style tend to break down when managers are asked to expand on how they perceive their leadership and account for what they actually do in this respect. We raise strong doubts about leadership as a construct saying something valuable and valid about what managers do in this kind of setting. We also argue that thinking about leadership needs to take seriously the possibility of the nonexistence of leadership as a distinct phenomenon with great relevance for understanding organizations and relations in workplaces.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate transformational leadership in relation to empowerment and team effectiveness and find that the more a team's members experience team empowerment, the more effective the team will be.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to investigate transformational leadership in relation to empowerment and team effectiveness. As part of an integrative model of leadership, transformational leadership style of superiors is proposed to be related to the strength of subordinate empowerment and team effectiveness. A total of 152 employees from various industries rated their superiors’ transformational leadership behaviors and also how much they felt empowered. They also evaluated their teams’ effectiveness in terms of innovativeness, communication and team performance. Findings suggest that transformational leadership contributes to the prediction of subordinates’ self‐reported empowerment and that the more a team’s members experience team empowerment, the more effective the team will be.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors extended the transactional-transformational model of leadership by deductively developing four theoretical behavioral types of leadership based on a historical analysis of leadership literature, including directive leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and empowering leadership.
Abstract: Extends the transactional‐transformational model of leadership by deductively developing four theoretical behavioral types of leadership based on a historical analysis of leadership literature. Then, in an exploratory empirical phase, uses two data sets to inductively develop alternative models of leadership types. Finally, with a third data set, tests several theoretically plausible typologies using second‐order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results of the CFA generally support the existence of four leadership types: directive leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and empowering leadership.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose that leadership content knowledge is a missing paradigm in the analysis of school and district leadership, and suggest that all administrators have solid mastery of at least one subject (and the learning and teaching of it) and develop expertise in other subjects by postholing.
Abstract: Drawing inspiration from Shulman’s (1986) construct of pedagogical content knowledge, we propose that leadership content knowledge is a missing paradigm in the analysis of school and district leadership. After defining leadership content knowledge as that knowledge of academic subjects that is used by administrators when they function as instructional leaders, we present three cases of instructional leadership—situated at different school and district levels—and examine each for evidence of leadership content knowledge in use. Based on a cross-case analysis, we argue that as administrative levels increase and functions become broader, leadership content knowledge becomes less fine-grained, though always anchored in knowledge of the subject, how it is learned (by adults as well as students), and how it is taught. We go on to suggest that all administrators have solid mastery of at least one subject (and the learning and teaching of it) and that they develop expertise in other subjects by “postholing,” that...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the following three questions: are women's leadership styles truly different from men's? Are these styles less likely to be effective? Is the determination of women's effectiveness as a leaders fact-based or a perception that has become a reality?
Abstract: The purpose of this article was to examine the following three questions: Are women’s leadership styles truly different from men’s? Are these styles less likely to be effective? Is the determination of women’s effectiveness as a leaders fact‐based or a perception that has become a reality? Conclusions revealed: Question one: Yes, women’s leadership style is, at this point, different from men’s but men can learn from and adopt “women’s” style and use it effectively as well In other words, effective leadership is not the exclusive domain of either gender and both can learn from the other Question two: No, women’s styles are not at all likely to be less effective; in fact, they are more effective within the context of team‐based, consensually driven organizational structures that are more prevalent in today’s world Question three: The assessment that a woman’s leadership style is less effective than a man’s is not fact‐based but rather driven, by socialization, to a perception that certainly persists The inescapable reality is that, within the senior ranks of corporate north America (and elsewhere), women remain conspicuous by their absence

01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: A review of the literature carried out for NCSL by as discussed by the authors is a good starting point for this paper. But it is not a comprehensive review of all the literature, however.
Abstract: A review of the literature carried out for NCSL by

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that the perceptions of psychological presence that distance education students hold of their teachers, peer students, and the institution can be traced back to their distance education experiences, i.e., the sense of psychological distance from the teacher, peer, and institution.
Abstract: This paper argues that, apart from interactive activities, the perceptions of psychological presence that distance education students hold of their teachers, peer students, and the institution can ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how managers position themselves and their work in terms of leadership in a large knowledge-intensive company and suggest a less comfortable view of managers aspiring to adopt, but partly failing to secure leadership identities and a coherent view of their work.
Abstract: This article investigates how managers position themselves and their work in terms of leadership in a large knowledge-intensive company. The significance of contemporary discourse on leadership, practical aspects of managerial work, and ambiguity as a central dimension of organization and leadership (particularly in knowledge-intensive settings) are highlighted. We examine the presumed leadership in a company with respect to the three 'moral' and 'aesthetic' positions or aspects of leadership: good, bad and ugly leadership. The article shows how managers incoherently move between different positions on leadership. The study undermines some of the dominant notions of leadership, for example, the leader as a consistent essence, a centred subject with a particular orientation to work. We suggest a less comfortable view of managers aspiring to adopt, but partly failing to secure leadership identities and a coherent view of their work. Value commitments appear as disintegrated and contradictory. The study indicates a need to radically rethink dominant ideas about leadership.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of leadership style (transactional vs. transformational), anonymity (identified vs. anonymous interaction), and rewards (individual vs. group) on creativity-relevant group processes and outcomes in two decision-making tasks supported by an electronic meeting system (EMS).
Abstract: Thirty-nine student groups participated in a laboratory experiment conducted to study the effects of leadership style (transactional vs. transformational), anonymity (identified vs. anonymous interaction), and rewards (individual vs. group) on creativity-relevant group processes and outcomes in two decision-making tasks supported by an electronic meeting system (EMS). Evidence for social loafing was observed, i.e., anonymity led to lower participation and cooperation in the group rewards condition relative to the individual rewards condition. Further analysis revealed that social loafing was confined to the transactional leadership condition. Corresponding to the social loafing effect, anonymity led to lower group efficacy and satisfaction with the task and higher originality of solutions in the group rewards condition relative to the individual rewards condition. Transactional leadership was associated with greater group efficacy and solution originality than transformational leadership. Anonymity moderated the effects of leadership on group efficacy and satisfaction with the task; transactional leadership was associated with higher group efficacy and satisfaction with the task in the identified condition only.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine current issues related to technology integration and provide a contextual framework with which school principals can undertake new leadership responsibilities in this area and provide examples of successful technology integration are provided to inform current technology leadership practices.
Abstract: This paper examines current issues related to technology integration and provides a contextual framework with which school principals can undertake new leadership responsibilities in this area. Selected examples of successful technology integration are provided to inform current technology leadership practices. The leadership goals, competencies and responsibilities needed in order to achieve this preferred future are described. In the final section, the authors draw on professional experiences as researcher and teacher/leader to build and expand on a five‐part leadership model currently in use by a large urban school district to interpret multiple dimensions of technology leadership for principals. Ways in which this framework can serve as a guide for school leaders as they develop technology competencies, implement professional growth plans, work with their community, and provide daily technology leadership, mentorship and advocacy for teachers in an elementary school are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a longitudinal field study tested follower developmental characteristics as predictors of transformational leadership and found that followers' initial developmental level, as expressed by the initial level of their self-actualization needs, internalization of the organization's moral values, collectivistic orientation, critical-independent approach, active engagement in the task, and selfefficacy, positively predicted transformational leader among indirect followers, whereas these relationships were negative among direct followers.
Abstract: The leadership literature has focused on the effects of leaders whereas much less attention has been given to the followers' role in shaping their leader's style. Therefore, this longitudinal field study tested follower developmental characteristics as predictors of transformational leadership. The sample included 54 military units and their leaders, in which there were 90 direct followers and 724 indirect followers. Results at the group level of analysis indicated that followers' initial developmental level, as expressed by the initial level of their self-actualization needs, internalization of the organization's moral values, collectivistic orientation, critical-independent approach, active engagement in the task, and self-efficacy, positively predicted transformational leadership among indirect followers, whereas these relationships were negative among direct followers. The different role of followers' initial developmental level as a predictor of transformational leadership among close versus distant followers is discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the distinction between authentic transformational and pseudo-transformational leadership fails to ground a sufficient response to ethical concerns about transformational leadership and that leaders sometimes behave immorally precisely because they are blinded by their own values.
Abstract: In response to worries about the morality of transformational leadership, Bass and Steidlmeier [Leadersh. Q. 10 (1999) 181] distinguish between authentic transformational leadership and inauthentic or pseudo-transformational leadership. The present article analyzes the conception of authenticity at the core of this normative account of leadership. I argue that the distinction between authentic transformational leadership and pseudo-transformational leadership fails to ground a sufficient response to ethical concerns about transformational leadership. To the extent that this theory holds that altruism suffices for ethical success, it misses the fact that leaders sometimes behave immorally precisely because they are blinded by their own values. In the end, we can expect that this kind of blindness will come to bear importantly on the moral psychology of leadership and, in some cases, encourage transformational leaders to believe that they are justified in making exceptions of themselves on the grounds that their leadership behavior is authentic.