Abstract
In a study of 357 managers using multiple methods and raters, we investigated how leaders’ affective experience was linked to their transformational leadership. As predicted, we found that leaders who experienced more pleasantness at work were rated by their subordinates as more transformational, and this relationship was partially mediated by leaders’ affective organizational commitment. Surprisingly, job satisfaction did not mediate this relationship. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
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From the full-text paper:
- “leaders who experienced higher levels of pleasantness at work were indeed rated by subordinates as more transformational in their leadership” (p74)
- “leaders who experienced higher levels of pleasantness at work reported significantly higher levels of job satisfaction … and affective organizational commitment” (p74)
- “leaders who reported feeling more committed to their organization were indeed rated by subordinates as more transformational in their leaders” (p74)
- “the extent to which leaders engage in transformational leadership is significantly influenced by the extent to which leaders experience pleasantness at work” (p77)
- “the extent to which leaders feel affective organizational commitment partially accounts for why more transformational leadership tends to be engaged in on the part of leaders with more pleasant affect at work” (p77)
- “job attitudes are “not equal” in their potential to account for affect-leadership relationships; this is because we found affective organizational commitment but not job satisfaction to partially mediate the tendency for more positively-affected leaders at work to engage in transformational leadership” (p78).
Regarding practical implications, the authors suggest that:
- How leaders are treated (and not just the way leaders treat subordinates) appears to be an important factor in determining the likelihood of transformational leadership. Thus, the authors state that “treating organizational leaders well so that they experience more pleasant feelings at work in an ongoing manner may be key in determining how transformational leaders will be” (pg.80).
- Therefore, leaders may not regularly engage in transformational leadership unless they are happy at work.
- The degree of leaders’ affective organisational commitment may be another critical factor in the likelihood of them engaging in transformational leadership. This led authors to suggest that “organizations can consider various other ways to increase leaders’ affective organizational commitment in order to promote transformational leadership.”
Finally, another interesting suggestion from the authors was that:
- “The importance of more organizationally-committed leaders in fostering transformational leadership in organizations also suggests that it is time for organizations who seek transformational leaders to do one of two possible things: (1) consider actions other than selection (e.g., identifying leaders with certain personality types or individual traits) and/or (2) supplement selection-strategies with actions that increase the affective organizational commitment of the individuals they seek as transformational leaders” (pg.80).
Authors: Jin, S., Seo, M., & Shapiro, Dl.L. (2015). The Leadership Quarterly
Study link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.09.002
Link to the LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-happy-leaders-lead-better-affective-attitudinal-ben-hutchinson
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