Leadership Team Cohesion and Subordinate Work Unit Morale and Performance

This study examined (a) the relationship of cohesion among members of a platoon leadership team to subordinate attitudes and performance and (b) the degree of consensus among squad members and their leaders regarding the leadership team's cohesiveness. In a sample of 60 light infantry platoons, squad members' perceptions of leadership team cohesion (LC) were signifi- cantly related (at both individual and unit levels) to their cohesion, organiza- tional identification, job involvement, task motivation, career intent, and perceptions of unit effectiveness. They were also related to ratings of performance in simulated combat. Regression revealed LC to be beneficial over and above the perceived quality of the individual leaders. Most of these relationships held true from the perspective of squad leaders, and some from the perspective of platoon sergeants and platoon leaders. The degree of consensus among the different levels varied as well. The results suggest that leaders should pay more attention to the impact their cohesion or dissension may have on unit morale and performance.     

Gender-Related Stereotypes of Transformational and Transactional Leadership

This study investigated gender differences in transformational and transactional leadership, and gender-related stereotypes for these forms of leadership. Results indicated that there were no differences in the way the primarily Caucasian subordinates evaluated their actual male and female managers. There were, however, differences in ratings of stereotypic male versus stereotypic female leaders on transformational and transactional leadership, but only by female respondents. Finally, congruence between ratings of actual managers and ratings of stereotypic managers was found primarily for male respondents. Results suggest that stereotypes may be one explanation for gender differences found in prior research on transformational and transactional leadership.     

On the same page: Exploring the link between cross-level leadership fit and innovation

Combining theoretical insights from both the leadership and innovation literature, we examine the role of cross-level leadership fit or similarity in leadership styles at the firm and unit levels and its relationship with innovation outcomes at the unit level. Hypotheses are formed indicating that transformational leaders enable exploration and transactional leaders facilitate exploitation. Results from a multifirm, multiunit, multisource study indicate that exploration is enhanced when transformational leaders are present at both the firm and unit levels, whereas exploitation is enhanced when transactional leaders are present at both the firm and unit levels. Results suggest that leadership similarity is an important multilevel antecedent to unit-level outcomes. Further, high-performance work systems serve as situational enhancers that strengthen the effects of cross-level leadership fit on unit-level innovation outcomes.     

The Impact of Leadership Style on Global Management Practices1

A study was conducted to explore the impact of differences in leadership style on the practice of global leadership and management. Data were collected from 391 senior managers from a global organization and 1,701 of their direct reports, 358 straight-line supervisors, and 266 dotted-line supervisors. ANOVA results indicate that transformational leaders were rated significantly higher on all behaviors by their direct reports than were transactional leaders. Straight-line supervisors rated transformational leaders significantly higher on managing change- and relationship-management behaviors, whereas dotted-line supervisors rated transformational leaders higher on learning orientation. Finally, transformational leaders were significantly more self-aware (greater congruence in self vs. direct reports' average ratings) regarding the practice of these behaviors. implications for future research are discussed.     

Transformational,transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: a meta-analysis comparing women and men

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.     

Predicting Transformational Leadership in Naval Cadets: Effects of Personality Hardiness and Training

The present study investigated whether personality hardiness predicts peer ratings of leadership style in Navy officer cadets. Cadets ( n  = 71) completed the Dispositional Resiliency (hardiness) Scale, and later rated their peers using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (full range of leadership model). Results show the hardy–commitment facet predicted peer ratings of all leadership styles covered in the model, both before and after and intensive military exercise. The challenge facet was a positive predictor of transformational and transactional leadership and was negatively related to passive-avoidant leadership. Transformational leadership predicted leader performance, as indexed by military development grades; and a partial mediation effect was found for hardiness on the relation between transformational leadership and leader performance.     

Is Transformational Leadership Always Perceived as Effective? Male Subordinates' Devaluation of Female Transformational Leaders1

This study investigated the impact of the gender composition of the leader–subordinate dyad on the relationship between leaders' transformational leadership behavior and their subordinates' ratings of the leaders' effectiveness. There were 109 dyads of leaders (58 male, 51 female) paired with a subordinate who was either the same or a different gender from themselves. The relationship between a leader's self‐report on transformational leadership and their subordinates' evaluation of their performance was significantly less positive for female leaders with male subordinates than for female leaders with female subordinates. The male and female subordinates of male leaders rated their performance as equally effective, regardless of their levels of transformational leadership.     

Personality and transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analysis

This study was a meta-analysis of the relationship between personality and ratings of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors. Using the 5-factor model of personality as an organizing framework, the authors accumulated 384 correlations from 26 independent studies. Personality traits were related to 3 dimensions of transformational leadership--idealized influence-inspirational motivation (charisma), intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration--and 3 dimensions of transactional leadership--contingent reward, management by exception-active, and passive leadership. Extraversion was the strongest and most consistent correlate of transformational leadership. Although results provided some support for the dispositional basis of transformational leadership--especially with respect to the charisma dimension--generally, weak associations suggested the importance of future research to focus on both narrower personality traits and nondispositional determinants of transformational and transactional leadership.     

Virtual team leadership: The effects of leadership style and communication medium on team interaction styles and outcomes

This study investigated the effects of transformational and transactional leadership styles and communication media on team interaction styles and outcomes. Teams communicated through one of the following three ways: (a) face-to-face, (b) desktop videoconference, or (c) text-based chat. Results indicated that transformational and transactional leadership styles did not affect team interaction styles or outcomes; that the mean constructive interaction score was higher in FTF than videoconference and chat teams, but not significantly higher in videoconference than chat teams; and that teams working in richer communication media did not achieve higher task performance than those communicating through less rich media. Finally, mean team cohesion scores were higher in FTF and videoconference than chat teams, but not significantly higher in FTF than videoconference teams. These results provide further evidence that communication media do have important effects on team interaction styles and cohesion.     

Five-factor model of personality and transformational leadership

This study linked traits from the 5-factor model of personality (the Big 5) to transformational leadership behavior. Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness were hypothesized to predict transformational leadership. Results based on 14 samples of leaders from over 200 organizations revealed that Extraversion and Agreeableness positively predicted transformational leadership; Openness to Experience was positively correlated with transformational leadership, but its effect disappeared once the influence of the other traits was controlled. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were unrelated to transformational leadership. Results further indicated that specific facets of the Big 5 traits predicted transformational leadership less well than the general constructs. Finally, transformational leadership behavior predicted a number of outcomes reflecting leader effectiveness, controlling for the effect of transactional leadership.     

The Effect of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Perceptions on Feedback-Seeking Intentions

This paper explores the relationship between leadership style as operationalized by trans-formational/transactional leadership (Bass, 1985) and feedback-seeking behavior. Participants ( n = 132) were presented with a vignette describing either a transformational or a transactional leader. Leadership style (transformational leader) was significantly related to higher feedback-seeking intentions. Further, controlling for manipulated leadership style, participants' perceptions of leader consideration behaviors resulted in higher feedback-seeking intentions. These findings suggest that not only does exposure to a certain leader affect feedback-seeking behavior, but also perceptions of certain characteristics of a leader's behavior are important. These findings explain one potential mechanism through which transformational leaders might affect the development of their subordinates and raises interesting implications for leadership coaching.     

A dynamic view of coach transformational leadership: How leadership perceptions relate to task cohesion and team potency

We examined whether athletes’ perceptions of coach transformational leadership across time related to task cohesion and team potency beliefs. Across multiple time points, we collected 384 observations (M = 5.41 observations per athlete) from competitive youth athletes via a mobile application designed to examine team dynamics. Multilevel structural equation modelling revealed intraindividual variation in athletes’ evaluations of coach transformational leadership across time. Further, we observed robust support for a positive relation between perceptions of coach transformational leadership and task cohesion over time at both the between- and within-person levels. The relation between coach transformational leadership and team potency was significant at the between-person level, however, we did not find support for this relation at the within-person level. These results provide insight into how the ebb and flow of coach transformational leadership over time connects to team cohesion, highlighting the need for more intensive longitudinal designs that capture the dynamic nature of leadership.     

工作压力反应及其与领导方式的关系研究

本研究通过对537位工作者的调查,探讨工作压力反应的类型及其与领导方式的关系,结果显示:工作压力反应存在四种类型,分别是积极压力反应类型、高压力反应类型、低压力反应类型以及消极压力反应类型。直接领导的不同领导方式与个体不同的工作压力反应类型存在关联。混合式领导方式下的个体积极压力反应最高,消极压力反应最低。变革型领导和交易型领导下的个体积极压力反应和消极压力反应无显著差异。     

The utility of transactional and transformational leadership for predicting performance and satisfaction within a path‐goal theory framework

In a test of hypotheses derived from the integration of principles of path‐goal theory ( House, 1996 ) and transformational leadership theory ( Bass, 1985 ), data collected from 179 high school teachers and their principals were examined with hierarchical regression analysis. Augmentation analysis indicated that transactional leadership had a stronger role in explaining unique criterion variance beyond the contribution of transformational leadership, than did transformational leadership relative to transactional leadership. In addition, both the transactional and transformational leadership had a negative interactive relationship for predicting the outcome of performance, such that leader vision and leader intellectual stimulation were more positively correlated with employee performance when leader use of contingent reward was low. These augmentation effects, in conjunction with the findings of negative moderation, suggest that transactional leadership may have greater potential predictive value than previously assumed.     

Transformational leadership and moral reasoning

Terms such as moral and ethical leadership are used widely in theory, yet little systematic research has related a sociomoral dimension to leadership in organizations. This study investigated whether managers' moral reasoning (n = 132) was associated with the transformational and transactional leadership behaviors they exhibited as perceived by their subordinates (n = 407). Managers completed the Defining Issues Test (J. R. Rest, 1990), whereas their subordinates completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (B. M. Bass & B. J. Avolio, 1995). Analysis of covariance indicated that managers scoring in the highest group of the moral-reasoning distribution exhibited more transformational leadership behaviors than leaders scoring in the lowest group. As expected, there was no relationship between moral-reasoning group and transactional leadership behaviors. Implications for leadership development are discussed.     

Transformational and Transactional Leadership and Followers’ Achievement Goals

Purpose

Achievement goals, or the standards of competence employees pursue in their work, have far-reaching consequences for employee and organizational functioning. In the current research, we investigated whether employees’ achievement goals can be predicted from their supervisor’s leadership style.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A multilevel study was conducted in which followers of 120 organizational leaders completed measures of their leader’s transformational leadership (focusing on individual needs and abilities, on intellectual development, and on a common team mission), transactional leadership (focusing on monitoring and achievement-related rewards), and their own mastery goals (aimed at learning, developing, and mastering job-relevant skills), and performance goals (aimed at doing better than others).

Findings

Group-level transformational leadership predicted followers’ mastery goals, whereas group-level transactional leadership predicted followers’ performance goals. Within-group differences in transformational leadership also predicted mastery goals.

Implications

These findings suggest that leadership style plays an important role in the achievement goals followers adopt. Organizations may promote transactional leadership in contexts requiring that employees outperform others. In contrast, in contexts requiring learning and development, organizations may promote transformational leadership.

Originality/Value

This research is the first to examine the relationships between leadership styles and specific follower goals, and the first to highlight the role of leadership as a social variable involved in employees’ adoption of achievement goals.     

Motivated or Demotivated to Be Creative: The Role of Self‐Regulatory Focus in Transformational and Transactional Leadership Processes

Numerous studies have recognised the importance of transformational leadership style for encouraging employees’ creativity. Self‐regulation studies have highlighted the influence of a promotion focus on employees’ creative behaviours. Yet both leadership and self‐regulation theories have paid less attention to the role transactional leadership style and situational prevention regulatory focus may play in affecting employees’ creativity. In this article we present a theoretical model which examines transformational and transactional leadership styles and both promotion and prevention situational self‐regulatory focus (SRF). The model suggests that while transformational leadership promotes creativity, at least partially by enhancing follower's situational promotion SRF, transactional leadership style (transactional active) is aligned with followers’ prevention situational SRF, which is associated with leaders’ hindering of followers’ creativity. Findings from two studies, an experimental study (N = 189) and a field study (N = 343 employees and 75 managers), support this model, showing that the relationship between different types of leadership and creativity are more complex than previously regarded. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Leader Profiles and Their Effectiveness on Employees’ Outcomes

An underlying premise of the transformational–transactional leadership theory is that different forms of leadership can reside simultaneously within the same individual. This fundamental hypothesis has received scarce attention in the empirical literature. The objectives of this study are thus to examine whether leader profiles combining these leadership forms do exist and to evaluate how these profiles are associated with specific employee attitudes and behaviors. Results obtained from two different samples using cluster analyses revealed six different leader profiles (i.e., superleaders, transactors, moderate leaders, distant-visionary, distant-rewarding, and distant-punitive leaders). Our results showed that these types of leaders differ in terms of employees’ perceptions of trust, justice, and commitment, as well as supervisor-rated in-role and contextual performance. Results and implications for research and practice are discussed.     

变革型领导力和交易型领导力：团队绩效的预测指标

在高不确定,高度竞争,高度挑战的任务情景下,领导力在团队中将扮演怎样的角色？变革型领导力与交易型领导力又是如何预测团队任务绩效的？为了回答这些问题,该研究对130名学生被试,31个团队,用ERP沙盘模拟游戏来进行模拟实验。通过高度模拟现实中企业经营的情景,从而提高实验结果的外部效度。实验结果表明,变革型领导力与交易型领导力都能够积极地预测团队任务绩效,消极领导力与任务绩效呈负相关,虽然并没有达到统计学显著水平,但研究结果的方向都支持了实验假设。     

Bases of power in relation to leader behavior: A field investigation

Hypotheses addressing the relationships between bases of power and transformational and transactional leadership, and propositions concerning the extent to which perceptions of leader power and behavior were shared by a leader's followers, were addressed in this study. Two hundred eighty employees reporting to 118 supervisors in 45 organizations provided data for the investigation. Results provided support for hypothesized relationships between personal power and transformational leadership as well as between positional power and transactional leadership. In addition, ratings of both leader power and leader behavior were found to be individually-based phenomena; that is, followers of a focal leader did not share perceptions about that leader's power or behavior. Implications for managerial practice and future research are discussed.We thank Bruce Avolio, Bernard Bass, and Gary Yukl for their helpful comments.