Research Sources on Leadership

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New title:
Bruce J. Avolio (2010). Full Range Leadership Development (Second Edition). Sage.

Cover of Avolio Full Range Leadership Development book A practical guide to leadership development based on the world's most thoroughly researched leadership development model

Conversational and accessible, this Second Edition of Bruce J. Avolio's groundbreaking book uses the full range leadership development model as an organizing framework and shows how it can be directly applied to improving leadership at the individual, team, and organizational levels. Filled with examples that show how the full range model comes to life in today's global world, Full Range Leadership Development, Second Edition, demonstrates how people, timing, resources, the context of interaction, and expected results in performance and motivation all contribute to effective leadership.

Over the last decade, the full range model has become the most researched model in the leadership literature—and the most validated—and has been proven to be an accurate guide for developing exemplary leadership in diverse cultures, organizations, and leadership positions. The new edition shows how the process of leadership development is linked to validation and how the process of validation informs accelerated leadership development.

Also by Bruce Avolio:
The No People: Tribal Tales of Organizational Cliff Dwellers. Information Age Publishing (2011).

Cover of Avolio The No People bookWho hasn’t scurried along the cliffs of uncertainty, not always as sure footed as one would like to be? There are many who can’t imagine a life away from the cliff’s edge, where great advances are sown and catastrophic failures constantly loom. In every area of our lives, cliffs unexpectedly present themselves, which may trigger a completely new course correction. Hanging back from the cliffs is certainly an option, one chosen by those who embrace a distant and safer view. Others revel in seeking out those cliffs because it is at the cliff’s edge where the most interesting trails and exploration reside.

Those who are the cliff dwellers must consider the advantage of bringing on your journey a trusted member of the No People (NPs). They are not the average Sherpa willing to carry your load in quiet compliance. They are the people who know when you need to hear “no”—especially when you are most likely to ignore their advice. I have written this book to underscore the critical role that the No People play in organizations and communities around the world. They are often a fragile group of diminishing numbers and safe sanctuaries (in places where leaders carelessly walk along the cliffs, ignorant of constituent and stakeholder interests and points of view, they have become nearly extinct). These are some NP tribal stories; tales of how this tribe continues to positively shape our world.

Books

Articles

  • Antonakis, J., Avolio B. J., & Sivasubramaniam, N. (2003). Context and leadership: an examination of the nine-factor full-range leadership theory using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(3), 261-295.
  • Avolio, B. J., Bass, B. M.,& Jung, D. (1999).  Reexamining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 7, 441-462.
  • Barling, J., Weber, J.,& Kelloway, E. K. (1996).  Effects of transformational leadership training on attitudinal and financial outcomes: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 827-832.
  • Bass, Bernard M. (1997).  Does the transactional-transformational leadership paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries?  American Psychologist, 52(2),130-139.
    ABSTRACT - There is universality in the transactional-transformational leadership paradigm. That is, the same conception of phenomena and relationships can be observed in a wide range of organizations and cultures. Exceptions can be understood as a consequence of unusual attributes of the organizations or cultures. Three corollaries are discussed. Supportive evidence has been gathered in studies conducted in organizations in business, education, the military, the government, and the independent sector. Likewise, supportive evidence has been accumulated from all but 1 continent to document the applicability of the paradigm.
  • Bass, Bernard M., Avolio, Bruce J., Jung, Dong I. & Berson, Yair.  (2003). Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership.  Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), 207-218.
    ABSTRACT - How do leadership ratings collected from units operating under stable conditions predict subsequent performance of those units operating under high stress and uncertainty? To examine this question, the authors calculated the predictive relationships for the transformational and transactional leadership of 72 light infantry rifle platoon leaders for ratings of unit potency, cohesion, and performance for U.S. Army platoons participating in combat simulation exercises. Both transformational and transactional contingent reward leadership ratings of platoon leaders and sergeants positively predicted unit performance. The relationship of platoon leadership to performance was partially mediated through the unit's level of potency and cohesion. Implications, limitations, and future directions for leadership research are discussed. Full text of the article available in PDF form at APA site (must have Adobe Acrobat reader).
  • Dvir, T., Eden, D., Avolio, B. J.,& Shamir, B. (2002).  Impact of transformational leadership on follower development and performance: A field experiment. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 735-744.
  • Eagly, A. H. Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & Van Engen, M. L. (2003). Transformational, Transactional, and Laissez-Faire Leadership Styles : A Meta-Analysis Comparing Women and Men. Psychological Bulletin 129, 4, 569-591.
    ABSTRACT - A meta-analysis of 45 studies of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles found that female leaders were more transformational than male leaders and also engaged in more of the contingent reward behaviors that are a component of transactional leadership. Male leaders were generally more likely to manifest the other aspects of transactional leadership (active and passive management by exception) and laissez-faire leadership. Although these differences between male and female leaders were small, the implications of these findings are encouraging for female leadership because other research has established that all of the aspects of leadership style on which women exceeded men relate positively to leaders' effectiveness whereas all of the aspects on which men exceeded women have negative or null relations to effectiveness.
  • Howell, J. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, locus of control, and support for innovation: Key predictors of consolidated business business-unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 891–902.
    IN BRIEF: Higher transformational and transactional leadership ratings were associated with more effective business unit performance.
  • Judge, T. A. & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional Leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology. 89 (5) 755-768.

 

Documents

Citations

  • American Psychological Association press release reports that the MLQ predicts leadership in battlefield simulations.  See "Leadership Styles That Use Rewards and Shared Values Help Platoons Perform Well in Simulated Combat Situations: Implications for Leadership Training in the Military" at the American Psychological Association (3/26/03). 
  • How transformational leadership works: Kaiser, Robert B. and Robert Hogan and S. Bartholomew Craig (2008). "Leadership and the fate of organizations." American Psychologist, 63(2) 96-110.
    "Research on how leaders affect followers' self-concepts indicates that transformational leadership works by influencing followers to identify with a collective enterprise and to internalize group aspirations. Transactional leadership appeals to followers' self-interest, but transformational leadership changes the way followers see themselves—from isolated individuals to members of a larger group. Transformational leaders do this by modeling collective commitment (e.g., through self-sacrifice and the use of “we” instead of “I”), emphasizing the similarity of group members, and reinforcing collective goals, shared values, and common interests. When followers see themselves as members of a collective, they tend to endorse group values and goals, and this enhances their motivation to contribute to the greater good."
  • Research findings on transformational leadership from "Context and leadership: an examination of the nine-factor full-range leadership theory using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire" by John Antonakis, Bruce J. Avolio and Nagaraj Sivasubramaniam, The Leadership Quarterly, 14(3), June 2003, 261-295: 

    Transformational leaders created greater alignment around strategic visions and missions

    Transformational leadership behavior factors are associated with organizational sales increases, market share, earnings and ROI.

    Scores on Transformational leadership predict individual and group performance.

    Transformational leadership has been found to explain between 45% and 60% of organizational performance

    Transformational leaders created greater unit cohesion, commitment, and lower turnover.

    Transformational leadership predicted higher levels of product innovation in R & D teams

    Transformational leaders created safer work environments.

    Transformational leadership training has been shown to improve leadership and associated performance over time.

Testimonials

"Among the most popular [leadership] tests is the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. . . A variety of studies have shown the MLQ to be effective as an assessment tool in leadership training programs. These have involved settings as diverse as savings banks, community action agencies, offshore oil platforms, the United States Army, Chinese state-run industry, and the Israel Defense Force infantry."

--Edward Hoffman.  (2002). Psychological Testing at Work. New York: McGraw Hill. 

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