Transformational Leadership in Work Groups

TLDR

Transformational leaders are believed to boost group effectiveness by empowering followers, fostering cooperation, and aligning values for greater cohesion. The study examined whether transformational leadership is positively associated with followers’ perceptions of empowerment, group cohesiveness, and effectiveness. Forty-seven work groups from four Korean firms served as the study sample. Partial least squares analysis revealed that transformational leadership positively predicted empowerment, group cohesiveness, and effectiveness, with empowerment driving collective efficacy that in turn enhanced perceived effectiveness, underscoring the leadership–performance link.

Abstract

It has been argued that transformational leaders increase group effectiveness by empowering followers to perform their job independently from the leader, highlight the importance of cooperation in performing collective tasks, and realign followers’ values to create a more cohesive group. A study was conducted to examine whether transformational leadership would be positively related to followers’perceptions of empowerment, group cohesiveness, and effectiveness. Forty-seven groups from four Korean firms participated in this study. Results of partial least squares analysis indicated that transformational leadership was positively related to empowerment, group cohesiveness, and group effectiveness. Empowerment was positively related to collective-efficacy, which in turn was positively related to group members’ perceived group effectiveness. Implications for research and practice are discussed.