Leadership & Technology

19 Pages 4729 Words

ct. From his perspective, transformational leaders motivate their followers to perform beyond normal expectations by transforming their thoughts and attitudes. To accomplish this, transformational leaders exhibit the following kinds of behaviors: attributed charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass and Avolio, 1994; Conger 1999). Attributed charisma refers to the role modeling leadership behaviors that gain admiration and trust. Intellectual stimulation behaviors include questioning assumptions and reframing problems and approaching existing situations from a fresh perspective (Bass, 1985). Individualized consideration behaviors involve delegation, empowerment, support of subordinates, and paying special attention to each individual's needs, abilities, and aspirations (Bass, 1985). These behaviors compel followers to commit to and actively support the leader's vision, forsake the status quo in favor of innovative approaches, accept greater responsibility, and perform effectively.
To date, the limited research into potential situational moderators for the transformational leadership paradigm has been within the organizational characteristics domain. Howell and Avolio (1993) examined the moderating effects of support for innovation on the relationships of the various transformational leadership scales with performance of the leaders' units. Keller (1992) examined the moderating effect of type of research and development work (i.e., basic research, applied research, product development, or technical service) on the relationship between transformational leadership and quality ratings for projects. Keller found transformational leadership to be a stronger predictor of quality for research projects than for development projects. We are aware of no other empirical research that has examined potential situational moderators of the relationships of transformational leadership behavior ...