The impact of transformational leadership on organizational and leadership effectiveness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of leadership behaviors on both organizational and leader effectiveness at boutique hotels. Design/methodology/approach A total of 722 subjects (60 managers and 662 non‐managerial employees) participated in this study from 60 boutique hotels. Participants were told that the study was designed to collect information on the leadership styles used by managers and on the satisfaction and commitment of employees in the hospitality workforce. Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire and Job Descriptive Index were used to assess leadership behaviors of the boutique hotels' first‐line managers and commitment and satisfaction levels of employees, respectively. Findings There are significant relations between leadership behaviors and both organizational and leadership effectiveness. The findings support the suggestion in the literature that transformational leadership behaviors stimulate organizational commitment and job satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Research limitations/implications There are several limitations that could be future research topics, such as hotels' source of funding, demographic characteristics of the participants. There is a question about the generalizability of these findings to other hospitality organizations such as four or five‐star hotels. Originality/value This paper explores an aspect of leadership in the hospitality industry that is often neglected. It provides compelling evidence for the importance of continuing the efforts to understand the nature of the leadership behaviors‐effectiveness connection.