The two faces of transformational leadership: Empowerment and dependency.

TLDR

Transformational leadership is thought to foster follower identification, dependence, and empowerment, yet empirical evidence on these outcomes has been scarce. The study examined 888 bank employees across 76 branches to test how transformational leadership relates to follower dependence, empowerment, and identification. Transformational leadership increased follower dependence and empowerment, with personal identification mediating dependence and social identification mediating empowerment, underscoring implications for theory and practice.

Abstract

Followers' identification with the leader and the organizational unit, dependence on the leader, and empowerment by the leader are often attributed to transformational leadership in organizations. However, these hypothesized outcomes have received very little attention in empirical studies. Using a sample of 888 bank employees working under 76 branch manages, the authors tested the relationships between transformational leadership and these outcomes. They found that transformational leadership was positively related to both followers' dependence and their empowerment and that personal identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' dependence on the leader, whereas social identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' empowerment. The authors discuss the implications of these findings to both theory and practice.