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.