Leader-Follower Relationship in Creating a Performance-Based Organizational Leadership
Relationship building between leaders and followers in a work-based environment serves a critical role in determining the nature and scope of organizational performance. Over the past years, many researchers have devoted considerable efforts to exploring this concept in the view of organizational leadership theories (Gellis, 2001). The theory of transactional leadership has gained enormous attention in the field of management since its establishment by Max Weber and later advanced by Bass (1981). Although the theory has received an application in the field of management, little research has been organized to explain the relationship between leadership behavior and organizational performance (Gellis, 2001).
The theory of transactional leadership within the context of organizational performance emerges as a salient theory that can explain the role of leadership behavior in shaping the scope of organizational performance. In the recent past, the field of organizational management has experienced change that touches on themes that need a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to the concept of leadership.
According to Gellis (2001), the theory of transactional leadership poses the potential of being instructive to the field of management and social work when examined at a theoretical level. Therefore, this theory has the capacity to investigate workers’ perceptions on the extent to which their leaders undertake their duties within the framework of the transactional theory. On the other hand, using this theory can help the researcher to form a preliminary opinion as to the degree to which workers associate organizational performance with leadership attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors that their leaders exhibit during their dispensations.
Some critics have argued that transactional leadership theory overemphasizes detailed and short-term organizational goals and standardized procedures. They further assert that although the theory has a wide range of applications in the field of social research, it fails to enhance the creativity and innovative ideas of the followers (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). However, many researchers contend that despite its observable limitations, transactional leadership can serve to inform stakeholders about the appropriateness of leadership behavior in relation to creating an efficacious organizational environment that supports performance.
In the modern world of leadership, it is postulated that the ability of an individual to influence the other is the essence of power.
Effective leaders are individuals who can exercise influence on people to get things done (Gellis, 2001). Emerging evidence supports the assertion that many leaders or managers have tended to develop and exercise this form of influence upon their followers. Therefore, using transactional leadership theory can be instrumental in explaining the leader-follower relationship, and how this influence causes a positive or negative worker perception in organizations. The inquiry into the social relationship between organizational leadership and workers or supervisor-subordinate relationships underpins this form of study (Adams, 2004). The significance presented by this theory relates to the long-term implication of its application in the field of management.
The theory provides a cognitive framework that can help to explain the willingness of a manager to adopt a methodology of relating with his or her followers in a purely contractual mode. Although leadership theories have been used extensively to define, explain, and demonstrate the nature and relationship between managers and employees, their applications have not addressed the concept of leaders transacting with employees to achieve objectives. Because transactional leadership theory sets out the premise of the need to communicate and clarify the expectations of the leaders on the side of employees, comprehending its application may offer a unique opportunity to investigate a leader’s contribution toward adequacy of employee performance by clarifying expectations and rewards (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002).
Constructs of the theory
To help explain the theory, it is critical to developing a framework of variables that underpin the application of the theory to the study. Therefore, the operationalization of the theory is accomplished by designing dependent and independent variables that can help to comprehend the topic under study (SEDL, 2012). Transactional leadership revolves around those aspects that seek to influence the performance capacity of an employee based on clear expectations of a leader (Rowe, 2001). The theory assumes that employees are not naturally motivated to perform, and they must be externally motivated to trigger increased performance levels. The theory further assumes that employees are not internally motivated and that supervisors must use reward and punishment as a form of motivation.
Independent Variables (IVs)
Reward system: the theory operates on the premise that employees are motivated by a design of a reward system that spells out the expectations of the leaders upon which employees must satisfy to enjoy the reward.
Active leadership: the behavior of a leader is crucial in shaping the attitudes of the employees toward their leader. Therefore, testing the effect of the activeness of a leader on the scope of an employment relationship is critical in explaining the significance of transactional leadership on organizational performance.
Operationalization of the selected Independent Variables and dependent variables
The researcher begins by identifying the study population and setting. Here, the researcher decides the appropriate sample size that can yield efficacious results. The following steps can help to operationalize the variables. The first procedure shall involve creating measurement items that will steer the process of measuring the outcome variables chosen for the study. Using an effort scale, responses from the workers can be used to assess the extent to which leadership can influence workers to exert more effort in their duties. To achieve this objective, the researcher may adopt sub-measures such as “the manager motivates me to do more than I could,” and “the manager creates a situation for me to perform highly” as espoused by Bass and Avalio.
To measure the effectiveness of the leader, respondents (workers) can be asked to give responses while using an effectiveness scale based on four aspects, including social attributes, work-related, and representation of employee issues to top management teams (The southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL), 2012). The last variable of leadership satisfaction will seek to assess the extent to which employees are satisfied with the leadership of their seniors. On a satisfaction scale, the study can utilize two measurements to accomplish this task. This includes “the extent to which the leader uses satisfying methods to exercise his or her leadership or influence,” and “general satisfaction with the form of leadership adopted by the senior.”
The researcher will then undertake to perform an analysis of the variables by calculating the means and standard deviations of all the variables used in the study. After this, the researcher performs bivariate analysis to evaluate the relationships exhibited between the selected variables of the study. Also, important in the exercise is the performance of hierarchical regressions to evaluate the effects of independent variables on the outcome (dependent) variables.
References
Gellis, Z. D. (2001). Social work perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership in healthcare. Social work Research, 25(1): 17-25.
Adams, J. (2004). Leadership and Motivation. The Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU).
Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational Beliefs, Values, and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 53: 109.
Rowe, W. (2001). Creating wealth in Organizations: The role of Strategic Leadership. The Academy of Management Executives, 15(1), 81.
The southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) in “History of Leadership” Web.