Transformational leadership

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

The impact of transformational CEOs on the performance of small- to medium-sized firms: does organizational context matter?

Abstract: Although theory suggests that CEOs who engage in transformational leadership should have a positive effect on firm performance, most empirical examinations using data drawn from larger firms have failed to find support for this linkage. Given that the organizational complexity associated with larger firms has been viewed as a central obstacle to establishing this important link, the authors examined the impact of CEO transformational leadership on firm performance in smaller, privately held firms. After first explaining why the less complex context of these firms provides a setting for transformational CEOs to play a more direct role in enhancing firm performance, they then further clarified the nature of this link by hypothesizing 3 contingencies that they argued are particularly salient: firm size, CEO founder status (founder or nonfounder), and CEO tenure. Results from a multisource survey of CEOs and their top management teams in 121 firms and 2 time-lagged measures of performance, 1 objective and 1 perceived, provided consistent support for these hypotheses.

Transformational leadership and performance: An experimental investigation of the mediating effects of basic needs satisfaction and work engagement

Abstract: The aim of the present research was to integrate and extend theorizing on transformational leadership, self-determination, and work engagement. Specifically, we tested experimentally our hypotheses that the satisfaction of followers' basic psychological needs (i.e., for competence, relatedness, and autonomy) and work engagement mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and performance. A total of 190 participants worked on a brainstorming task under either a transformational or a non-transformational leadership condition. Followers' performance was operationalized through quantity, quality, and persistence. Results revealed that satisfaction of the needs for competence and relatedness mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement, which, in turn, was positively related to quality, quantity, and persistence. Taken together, these findings are largely in line with our theoretical model and support Bass' ( Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York, NY: Free Press, 1985) and Burns' ( Leadership. New York: Harper & Row, 1978) theories on needs satisfaction being a central mechanism behind transformational leadership. Practitioner points The results of this study suggest that organizations can benefit from implementing measures to increase employees' work engagement, because this can enhance employees' performance., Furthermore, the study provides an indication of how to design such measures. It suggests that initiatives focusing on followers' basic psychological needs satisfaction (especially of the needs for competence and relatedness) are particularly effective., Finally, our findings indicate that transformational leadership is one concrete way to foster employees' needs satisfaction and, consequently, work engagement and performance. Hence, integrating the frameworks of transformational leadership and followers' psychological needs can provide valuable insights for leadership development

Empowering Middle Managers to be Transformational Leaders

Abstract: The article describes a field study of a large-scale management development program designed to stimulate middle managerial change. The development of a change typology suggests that middle manager...

How do transformational leaders influence followers' affective well-being? Exploring the mediating role of self-efficacy

Abstract: Transformational leaders employ a visionary and creative style of leadership that inspires employees to make independent decisions and develop in their work. There is some evidence that the transformational (inspirational) leadership style is linked to employee burnout and stress. However, little research has focused on the psychological mechanisms that could explain this link, nor has there been a focus on positive affective well-being. We propose that transformational leaders influence their followers’ self-efficacy, thereby affecting affective wellbeing in followers. This study extends previous work by examining the direct link between leadership and well-being both cross-sectionally (N447) and longitudinally (N188), and testing the mediating effects of self-efficacy. The study was carried out within parts of an elderly care department in a Danish local government. A theory-driven model of the relationships between leadership, self-efficacy and affective well-being was tested using Structural Equation Modelling. The results indicated that followers’ self-ratings of selfefficacy mediated the relationship between transformational leadership style and positive affective well-being. Only limited evidence for a direct path between leadership behaviour and positive affective well-being was found. These findings have implications for how organizations may promote employee well-being, through interventions directed at supporting transformational leadership behaviours.

The Effect of Institutional Culture on Change Strategies in Higher Education

Abstract: The array of challenges that higher education faces today is virtually unparalleled when compared to any other point in U.S. history. The litany of changes is familiar to those in the field of higher education: financial pressure, growth in technology, changing faculty roles, public scrutiny, changing demographics, competing values, and the rapid rate of change in the world both within and beyond our national boarders. The changes many institutions face have accelerated beyond tinkering; more campuses each year attempt to create comprehensive (or transformational) change. Yet, change strategies have not been exceedingly helpful in their capacity to guide institutions, and we know even less about how to facilitate major, institutionwide change. The current change literature in higher education provides mostly generalized strategies about what is effective: a willing president or strong leadership, a collaborative process, or providing rewards (Roberts, Wren, & Adam, 1993; Taylor & Koch, 1996). This broad writing may mask information helpful to advance institutional change on a specific campus. “Achieving buy-in” or “communicating effectively” can seem very empty to institutional leaders and higher education scholars. Can this strategy be used at every institution and in the same way? The assumptions behind this approach are that each strategy is enacted similarly on each campus and that nuance and context do not much matter. Broad change strategies are presented as uniform, universal, and applicable.