This explored an understudied “dark side” of transformational leadership styles for leaders. That is, most research to date has focused on all of the positive facets of these leadership styles but rarely explored the impact these styles have on leaders themselves.
Transformational leadership behaviours (TFL) have positive benefits for followers. TFL includes idealised influence (charismatic role modelling), inspirational motivation (communicating vision and ideals), intellectual stimulation (stimulating creativity of followers) and individualised considerations (listening to followers’ needs).
It’s been linked to benefits for followers, like:
- More positive affect
- Less emotional exhaustion
- Greater engagement in organisational citizenship behaviour
However, higher degrees of TFL behaviours may also result in emotional exhaustion for leaders as they try to motivate and balance the needs of followers. Similar findings for leader emotional depletion was observed for procedural justice.
Further, frequently expressing positive emotions for role modelling may be at odds with the leader’s actual felt emotional state – which requires further taxing emotional regulation.
TFL may also require additional use of expressive verbal and non-verbal language, e.g. gestures, postures, metaphors and vivid images to “help followers picture their future, ideal states” (p10). This may further tax limited emotional resources.
Also paying attention to individual follower needs may further deplete leader resources.
Results
Overall, “transformational leader behaviors were associated with increases in leader emotional exhaustion and subsequent leader turnover intentions, and these detrimental consequences occurred over and above benefits to followers” (p2).
Specifically, findings included:
- A positive and significant effect of TFL on leader turnover intentions via leader emotional exhaustion
- TFL associated with an increase in leader emotional exhaustion from the previous week
- Leader emotional exhaustion related to an increase in leader turnover intentions from previous week
- TFL behaviours were positively related to follower organisational citizenship behaviours and positive affect. The relationship was such that “the resource loss reflected by emotional exhaustion was enough to offset, but not overshadow, the resource gains reflected by follower OCB and follower positive affect” (p22)
- The relationship between TFL and leader emotional exhaustion were stronger when followers were low in conscientiousness compared to when they were high in conscientiousness
- Indirect effects of TFL on leader turnover was significant when followers were low in conscientiousness
- Relationship between TFL and leader emotional exhaustion was stronger when followers were lower in (self-perceived) competence
Discussing the findings, it’s said that “Despite leadership being a two-way street, involving social exchanges between leaders and followers (Bass & Riggio, 2006), theory and research to date on transformational leadership has been rather lopsided, focusing on the benefits of transformational leader behaviors to followers” (p33).
In contrast, this study found that TFL behaviours were associated with increases in emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions and these were amplified by followers lower in conscientiousness and competence.
It’s said that “Although transformational leader behaviors certainly have benefits, they also appear to consume leaders’ resources, especially when those behaviors are directed toward certain followers” (p34). The authors “suggest caution in recommending that managers “consistently exhibit transformational leadership” (p35).
It’s recommended that organisation’s consider interventions aimed at replenishing leaders’ resources when they are depleted. This could include respite activities, breaks to psychologically detach from job-related activities, and perhaps organisations deploying TFL behaviours more strategically.
In my view, this study is important as one of several others that have highlighted the boundary conditions of certain concepts which are normally only highlighted for their positive attributes, as opposed to potential limitations or dark sides.
This includes the potential for higher psychological safety to also facilitate higher unethical behaviour in certain group configurations or higher leader humility contributing to higher follower deviant behaviour (links to studies below).
Notably, these dark sides may not just be related to the overuse or abuse of any particular concept, but may also be intrinsically part of that concept (features not bugs).
Drawing on a comment from the other psychological safety study – I don’t think we need warning labels on these concepts, but we do need to recognise that interventions are not only positive or value neutral but may also have unintended and negative consequences.
Authors: Lin, S. H., Scott, B. A., & Matta, F. K. (2019). Academy of Management Journal, 62(5), 1556-1582.
Study link: https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.1255
Psychological safety study: https://wordpress.com/post/safety177496371.wordpress.com/72
Leader humility study: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/double-edged-sword-leader-humility-investigating-when-ben-hutchinson
Link to the LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:6924470400135430144?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A6924470400135430144%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29
SafetyInsights.org 