Transformational leadership

About: Transformational leadership is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 18939 publications have been published within this topic receiving 600379 citations.

Exploring the link between integrated leadership and public sector performance

Abstract: article i nfo a bstract This study develops the concept of integrated leadership in the public sector. Integrated leadership is conceived as the combination of five leadership roles that are performed collectively by employees and managers at different levels of the hierarchy. The leadership roles are task-, relations-, change-, diversity-, and integrity-oriented leadership. Using data from the Federal Human Capital Survey and Program Assessment Rating Tool, we analyze the relationship between integrated leadership and federal program performance. The findings from the empirical analysis indicate that integrated leadership has a positive and sizeable effect on the performance of federal sub-agencies. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings and limitations of the study.

Leadership and Motivation: The Effective Application of Expectancy Theory

Abstract: In this article, we discuss the application of a motivational model that provides a practical tool for individuals wishing to assume leadership roles. This model, namely expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964; Porter and Lawler, 1968), suggests that individuals, acting through self-interest, adopt courses of action perceived as maximizing the probability of desirable outcomes for themselves. This desire to maximize self-interest provides aspiring leaders with unique opportunities to assume leadership roles by simultaneously meeting both follower needs and organizational requirements. We intend to explicitly link expectancy theory and leadership concepts to demonstrate that leader interactions with followers permit the establishment of highly motivational working environments. In so doing, individuals acquire the means to transcend their traditional roles of supervisor, manager, or follower, and realize their potentials as leaders. In order to remain competitive at home or within the global market, we must stop relegating in our minds the functions of leadership to the office of the president or CEO of the organization. Instead, we must come to view the leadership role as part of every employee's job, at all levels of the organization. In the next section, we pose the question "How many leaders does an organization require?" and we answer this question by suggesting a change in our way of thinking regarding how we view the traditional roles of manager, supervisor, and follower. In a following section, we fully outline the expectancy theory model and attempt to establish its validity in the mind of the reader. We then break the model apart to examine each of its three major components. In each case, we identify issues to consider and address when attempting to create an environment followers perceive as highly motivating. Next, we describe leader attitudes required to establish a climate conducive to the application of this model with followers in the workplace. Finally, we summarize our discussion and outline implications for the organization. How Many Leaders Does an Organization Require? We argue that every organization needs a workforce comprised of leaders, rather than employees. We develop and present our rationale in the discussion that follows. Much has been written about the differences between managers and leaders. In general, leaders are viewed to take control of situations, while managers learn to live with them (Bennis, 1989). Other distinctions include: leaders create vision and strategy while managers implement the outcomes (Kotter, 1990a), leaders cope with change while managers cope with complexity (Kotter, 1990a and b), and leaders focus upon interpersonal aspects of the job, whereas managers deal with administrative duties (DuBrin, 1995). Perhaps, the best known phrase differentiating the roles of managers and leaders suggests that "managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing" (Bennis and Nanus, 1985:21). Frequently, people who avoid the leadership role are viewed as administrators (Robinson, 1999). In light of such distinctions, we propose that managers use legitimate power to push employees towards desired ends, whereas leaders use their influence to pull followers towards goals. We all know that a piece of string travels purposefully when pulled and not pushed, as noted by Miller (1996) in a discussion on empowerment of employees, and we support this principle as it applies to leadership and the use of influence. The effective application of influence instils a sense of purpose or mission amongst the workers. The source of this influence stems from the leader and not the organization. The leader emphasizes doing things with people, rather than to them (Blanchard, 1999), and places extreme importance on entering into a relationship with those who follow (Kouzes and Posner, 1993). The push/pull distinction between managers and leaders is not entirely new by any means. …

Transformational leadership and performance outcomes: Analyses of multiple mediation pathways

Abstract: Transformational leadership (TFL) has been shown to affect employees' job performance, and the literature offers a large variety of explanatory processes. Integrating the diverse literature related to the mechanisms that mediate the TFL-performance relationship, the current study identified five core mechanisms—affective, motivational, identification, social exchange, and justice enhancement—that are consistent with established social and psychological theories. Meta-analysis involving > 600 samples was conducted to test these mechanisms. General support was found for each of the five mechanisms. The findings showed that TFL was related to variables that represented these mechanisms, which in turn were associated with non-self-report measures of employees' task performance, citizenship behavior, and innovative behavior. An integrative model was further proposed and tested to show the central role of leader-member exchange in the relationships between TFL, other mediating variables, and performance outcomes. This study contributes to the literature by strengthening researchers' theoretical understanding of the major social and psychological processes by which transformational leaders promote followers' job performance.

Shedding light on followers' innovation implementation behavior

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of how transformational leadership relates to followers' innovation implementation behavior, the psychological mechanisms of this relationship, and the role of individual perceptions of climate for initiative.Design/methodology/approach – Perceptual data were collected from 198 employees in lower and middle management positions of a multinational automotive corporation. Relationships were tested using hierarchical regression analysis.Findings – Results demonstrate that transformational leadership was strongly related to followers' innovation implementation behavior and that the nature of this relationship was moderated by followers' levels of perceived climate for initiative. Additionally, commitment to change fully mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' innovation implementation behavior.Research limitations/implications – The paper is based on a cross‐sectional design. A causal interpretation r...