The Embedding Effect of Transformational Leadership in Extreme Contexts

Decades of research have established transformational leadership as an encompassing leadership approach with broad applications across organizational contexts. Despite dozens of meta-analyses and many empirical studies demonstrating the direct performance effects of transformational leadership, ways in which transformational leaders shape follower personal development and well-being remain largely unexplored, particularly in extreme contexts such as military combat. Based on a sample of 130 combat veterans of multiple conflicts, we examined the impact of transformational leadership in combat on follower posttraumatic growth and follower self-efficacy after deployment, including the moderating effects of the duration and intensity of combat. Moderated regression modeling and analyses demonstrated that transformational leadership was associated with follower posttraumatic growth among lengthier combat deployments, as well as with follower self-efficacy independent of combat duration and intensity. Our findings suggest that transformational leaders frame extreme contexts as opportunities for growth, and further implications for research and practice are discussed.

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Staying after the storm: How transformational leadership relates to follower turnover intentions in extreme contexts

Journal of Vocational Behavior ◽

10.1016/j.jvb.2017.07.004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 102 ◽

pp. 72-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Marion B. Eberly ◽

Dustin J. Bluhm ◽

Cristiano Guarana ◽

Bruce J. Avolio ◽

Sean T. Hannah

Keyword(s):

Transformational Leadership ◽

Turnover Intentions ◽

Extreme Contexts

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Transformational Leadership and Objective Performance in Banks

Applied Psychology ◽

10.1080/026999498377917 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 397-420 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

Alois L.J. Geyer ◽

Johannes M. Steyrer

Keyword(s):

Transformational Leadership ◽

Objective Performance

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Do Work Characteristics Mediate the Negative Effect of Transformational Leadership on Impaired Well-Being?

Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie A&O ◽

10.1026/0932-4089/a000249 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 61 (4) ◽

pp. 167-180 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Sylvie Vincent-Höper ◽

Sabine Gregersen ◽

Albert Nienhaus

Keyword(s):

Transformational Leadership ◽

Focal Point ◽

Leadership Behavior ◽

Workplace Health Promotion ◽

Well Being ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Related Factor ◽

Work Characteristics ◽

Role Clarity

Abstract: In recent years, transformational leadership as a health-related factor has become a focal point of interest in research and practice. However, the pathways and mechanisms underlying this association are not yet well understood. In order to gain knowledge on how or why transformational leadership and employee well-being are associated, we investigated the mediating effect of the work characteristics role clarity and predictability. The study was carried out on 618 employees working in the health-care sector in Germany. We tested the mediator effect using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that role clarity and predictability fully mediate the relation between transformational leadership and negative indicators of well-being. These results give credit to the notion that work characteristics play an important role in identifying health-relevant aspects of leadership behavior. Our findings advance the understanding of how to enhance employee well-being and have implications for the design of leadership-related interventions of workplace health promotion.

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Psychological Contract Fulfillment and Employee Responses to Pay System Change

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000186 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 172-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Christine J. Syrek ◽

Conny H. Antoni

Keyword(s):

Transformational Leadership ◽

Psychological Contract ◽

Pay For Performance ◽

Psychological Contracts ◽

Change Processes ◽

Affective Organizational Commitment ◽

Before And After ◽

Psychological Contract Fulfillment ◽

Pay System ◽

Employee Responses

Abstract. The implementation of a new pay system is a balancing act that produces uncertainty and draws employees’ attention to the fulfillment of exchange agreements. Transformational leadership may be essential during these change processes. Based on psychological contract theory, we expected that transformational leadership impacts job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment through the fulfillment of relational psychological contracts, while the fulfillment of transactional psychological contracts may be crucial for employees’ pay and bonus satisfaction. We assessed 143 employees nested within 34 teams before and after (24 months) a pay for performance (pfp) system was introduced. Our results supported the mediation hypotheses considering job and pay satisfaction, but not considering commitment. Unexpectedly, the effect on bonus satisfaction was mediated via relational psychological contracts.

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