The bright-side and the dark-side of CEO personality: Examining core self-evaluations, narcissism, transformational leadership, and strategic influence.

This article reports on an examination of the relationships between chief executive officer (CEO) personality, transformational and transactional leadership, and multiple strategic outcomes in a sample of 75 CEOs of Major League Baseball organizations over a 100-year period. CEO bright-side personality characteristics (core self-evaluations) were positively related to transformational leadership, whereas dark-side personality characteristics (narcissism) of CEOs were negatively related to contingent reward leadership. In turn, CEO transformational and contingent reward leadership were related to 4 different strategic outcomes, including manager turnover, team winning percentage, fan attendance, and an independent rating of influence. CEO transformational leadership was positively related to ratings of influence, team winning percentage, and fan attendance, whereas contingent reward leadership was negatively related to manager turnover and ratings of influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing diversity and enhancing team outcomes: The promise of transformational leadership.

In a sample of 62 research and development (R&D) teams, the authors examined transformational leadership as a moderator of the relationship of age, nationality, and educational background diversity with team outcomes. When levels of transformational leadership were high, nationality and educational diversity were positively related to team leaders' longitudinal ratings of team performance. These relationships were nonsignificant when transformational leadership was low. Age diversity was not related to team performance when transformational leadership was high, and it was negatively related to team performance when transformational leadership was low. Two mediated moderation effects help explain these findings. Transformational leadership moderated the relationship of the 3 examined diversity dimensions with the elaboration of task-relevant information, which in turn was positively associated with team performance. Moreover, transformational leadership moderated the relationship of the 3 diversity types with collective team identification, which in turn was positively related to the elaboration of task-relevant information. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results. Overall, this study suggests that transformational leadership can foster the utilization of the potential, but frequently untapped, benefits entailed by both demographic and informational/cognitive team diversity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of core self-evaluations in the coping process.

In 2 studies, the authors investigated whether core self-evaluations (CSE) serve as an integrative framework for understanding individual differences in coping processes. A meta-analytic review demonstrated that CSEs were associated with fewer perceived stressors, lower strain, less avoidance coping, more problem-solving coping, and were not strongly related to emotion-focused coping. Consistent with the meta-analytic results, a daily diary study demonstrated that individuals with high CSE perceived fewer stressors, experienced less strain after controlling for stressors, and engaged in less avoidance coping. However, both studies demonstrated that emotional stability was uniquely related to the stress and coping process and that emotional stability moderated the relationship between stressors and strain. The discussion focuses on the distinction between depressive self-concept represented by CSE and the anxiety and worry represented by emotional stability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Embracing transformational leadership: Team values and the impact of leader behavior on team performance.

The authors investigated the relationship between transformational leadership behavior and group performance in 218 financial services teams that were branches of a bank in Hong Kong and the United States. Transformational leadership influenced team performance through the mediating effect of team potency. The effect of transformational leadership on team potency was moderated by team power distance and team collectivism, such that higher power distance teams and more collectivistic teams exhibited stronger positive effects of transformational leadership on team potency. The model was supported by data in both Hong Kong and the United States, which suggests a convergence in how teams function in the East and West and highlights the importance of team values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Advice and Influence Networks of Transformational Leaders.

Existing transformational leadership research has focused primarily on the behaviors of leaders and their effects on followers. The authors extended this research by examining the social networks of managers who exhibit transformational leadership behaviors. Their focus was on the network of relationships that managers develop and whether they hold key positions in the organization's informal social networks. In a field study using data from 39 managers and 130 nonmanagement employees of 6 organizations, the authors found that managers who score higher on transformational leadership tend to hold more central positions in organizational advice and influence networks. Furthermore, the direct reports of these leaders were also more central in informal organizational networks. These results illuminate one of the ways that managers who exhibit transformational leadership behaviors may exert influence in organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Divergent effects of transformational and passive leadership on employee safety.

The authors concurrently examined the impact of safety-specific transformational leadership and safety-specific passive leadership on safety outcomes. First, the authors demonstrated via confirmatory factor analysis that safety-specific transformational leadership and safety-specific passive leadership are empirically distinct constructs. Second, using hierarchical regression, the authors illustrated, contrary to a stated corollary of transformational leadership theory (B. M. Bass, 1997), that passive leadership contributes incrementally to the prediction of organizationally relevant outcomes, in this case safety-related variables, beyond transformational leadership alone. Third, further analyses via structural equation modeling showed that both transformational and passive leadership have opposite effects on safety climate and safety consciousness, and these variables, in turn, predict safety events and injuries. Implications for research and application are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational leadership and team innovation: Integrating team climate principles.

Fostering team innovation is increasingly an important leadership function. However, the empirical evidence for the role of transformational leadership in engendering team innovation is scarce and mixed. To address this issue, the authors link transformational leadership theory to principles of M. A. West's (1990) team climate theory and propose an integrated model for the relationship between transformational leadership and team innovation. This model involves support for innovation as a mediating process and climate for excellence as a moderator. Results from a study of 33 research and development teams confirmed that transformational leadership works through support for innovation, which in turn interacts with climate for excellence such that support for innovation enhances team innovation only when climate for excellence is high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When is educational specialization heterogeneity related to creativity in research and development teams? Transformational leadership as a moderator.

The authors examined conditions under which teams' educational specialization heterogeneity was positively related to team creativity. Using a sample of 75 research and development teams, the authors theorized and found that transformational leadership and educational specialization heterogeneity interacted to affect team creativity in such a way that when transformational leadership was high, teams with greater educational specialization heterogeneity exhibited greater team creativity. In addition, teams' creative efficacy mediated this moderated relationship among educational specialization heterogeneity, transformational leadership, and team creativity. The authors discuss the implications of these results for research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership.

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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the dual-level effects of transformational leadership on followers.

We developed a dual-level transformational leadership scale to measure individual-focused behavior at the individual level and group-focused behavior at the group level, and we validated the scale using a sample of 203 members from 60 work groups in a Canadian company. Results show that individual-focused leadership behavior, at the individual level, was positively related to task performance and personal initiative; group-focused leadership behavior, at the group level, was positively associated with team performance and helping behavior. Implications for leadership theory and practice are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of transformational and change leadership on employees' commitment to a change: A multilevel study.

The effects of transformational leadership on the outcomes of specific change initiatives are not well understood. Conversely, organizational change studies have examined leader behaviors during specific change implementations yet have failed to link these to broader leadership theories. In this study, the authors investigate the relationship between transformational and change leadership and followers' commitment to a particular change initiative as a function of the personal impact of the changes. Transformational leadership was found to be more strongly related to followers' change commitment than change-specific leadership practices, especially when the change had significant personal impact. For leaders who were not viewed as transformational, good change-management practices were found to be associated with higher levels of change commitment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The two faces of transformational leadership: Empowerment and dependency.

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 managers, 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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Capitalizing on one's advantages: Role of core self-evaluations.

The authors examined (a) whether core self-evaluations in adolescence and young adulthood predict income at midlife and (b) whether people with positive core self-evaluations are more likely to capitalize on advantages resulting from family socioeconomic status and academic achievement, resulting in even higher levels of income at midcareer. The sample consisted of participants from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a national probability sample that first surveyed participants in 1979. The authors found that core self-evaluations and family socioeconomic status and academic achievement predict income and that, furthermore, high core self-evaluations enhance the benefits derived from these factors. Overall, it appears that individuals with positive core self-evaluations are particularly adept at translating early advantages into later economic success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Laying the foundation for successful team performance trajectories: The roles of team charters and performance strategies.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 95(4) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2010-13313-007). In the article “Laying the Foundation for Successful Team Performance Trajectories: The Roles of Team Charters and Performance Strategies,” by John E. Mathieu and Tammy L. Rapp (Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 90–103), the “High Chart–Low Strategy” and the “Low Chart–High Strategy” lines were inadvertently reversed in Figure 1. Below is the corrected version of Figure 1.] This study examined the influences of team charters and performance strategies on the performance trajectories of 32 teams of master's of business administration students competing in a business strategy simulation over time. The authors extended existing theory on team development by demonstrating that devoting time to laying a foundation for both teamwork (i.e., team charters) and taskwork (performance strategies) can pay dividends in terms of more effective team performance over time. Using random coefficients growth modeling techniques, they found that teams with high-quality performance strategies outperformed teams with poorer quality strategies. However, a significant interaction between quality of the charters of teams and their performance strategies was found, such that the highest sustained performances were exhibited by teams that were high on both features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Character and authentic transformational leadership behavior: Expanding the ascetic self toward others.

Character, or inherent moral beliefs, intentions, and predispositions, is often considered to be a foundational element of outstanding leadership according to numerous theories of leadership and positive psychology. Yet, a framework for understanding the complex nature of character and the role it plays in determining who is able to display outstanding leadership does not fully exist. We present a framework and propositions for examining how the self-concept plays an integral role in the display of authentic transformational leadership behavior given individual and situational characteristics. We propose that leaders first create an ascetic self-construal that derives from character strengths and virtues and then project this self-image through idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration behavior. We identify and discuss 23 specific character strengths reflecting 6 universal virtues in the model (i.e., wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence), as well as suggest ways for assessing and developing behavior consistent with virtue and transformational leadership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transforming service employees and climate: A multilevel, multisource examination of transformational leadership in building long-term service relationships.

This longitudinal field study integrates the theories of transformational leadership (TFL) and relationship marketing to examine how TFL influences employee service performance and customer relationship outcomes by transforming both (at the micro level) the service employees' attitudes and (at the macro level) the work unit's service climate. Results revealed that, at the individual level, managers' TFL was positively related to employee service performance, which, in turn, positively predicted customers' expressed intention to maintain a long-term service relationship with the service employee and manager-reported number of the employee's long-term customers measured 9 months later. In addition, the relationship between TFL and employee service performance was partially mediated by employee self-efficacy. Furthermore, store-level TFL was positively associated with store-level service climate, and service climate further enhanced the relationship between individual-level TFL and employee service performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of core self-evaluations to goal setting, motivation, and performance.

A newly developed personality taxonomy suggests that self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and neuroticism form a broad personality trait termed core self-evaluations. The authors hypothesized that this broad trait is related to motivation and performance. To test this hypothesis, 3 studies were conducted. Study 1 showed that the 4 dispositions loaded on 1 higher order factor. Study 2 demonstrated that the higher order trait was related to task motivation and performance in a laboratory setting. Study 3 showed that the core trait was related to task activity, productivity as measured by sales volume, and the rated performance of insurance agents. Results also revealed that the core self-evaluations trait was related to goal-setting behavior. In addition, when the 4 core traits were investigated as 1 nomological network, they proved to be more consistent predictors of job behaviors than when used in isolation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational leadership and psychological well-being: The mediating role of meaningful work.

Two studies investigated the relationship between transformational leadership, the meaning that individuals ascribe to their work, and their psychological well-being. In Study 1, the perceptions of meaningful work partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and positive affective well-being in a sample of Canadian health care workers (N=319). In Study 2, the meaning that a separate sample of service workers (N=146) ascribed to their work fully mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and psychological well-being, after controlling for humanistic work beliefs. Overall, these results support and add to the range of positive mental health effects associated with transformational leadership and are suggestive of interventions that organizations can make to improve well-being of workers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and test of a model linking safety-specific transformational leadership and occupational safety.

The authors developed, tested, and replicated a model in which safety-specific transformational leadership predicted occupational injuries in 2 separate studies. Data from 174 restaurant workers (M age=26.75 years, range=15-64) were analyzed using structural equation modeling (LISREL 8; K. G. J?reskog & D. S?rbom, 1993) and provided strong support for a model whereby safety-specific transformational leadership predicted occupational injuries through the effects of perceived safety climate, safety consciousness, and safety-related events. Study 2 replicated and extended this model with data from 164 young workers from diverse jobs (M age=19.54 years, range=14-24). Safety-specific transformational leadership and role overload were related to occupational injuries through the effects of perceived safety climate, safety consciousness, and safety-related events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)