On Redundancy in Leadership Theories

How many leadership theories do we need? Since the early 1980s transformational leadership has dominated leadership research. We also have other popular and positive approaches to leadership: authentic, servant, and ethical. The degree to which these four leadership theories overlap are empirical questions. Fortunately we now have a study that moves us closer to having answers. 
 
Julia Hoch, Bill Bommer, Jim Dulebohn, and Dongyuan Wu published their research in the February 2018 issue of the Journal of Management. Using meta-analytic techniques they examined results from over 300 studies involving thousands of working adults. Among their findings were the following:

• Authentic leadership was highly correlated with transformational leadership (.75).
• Ethical leadership was highly correlated with transformational leadership (.70).
• Servant leadership was moderately correlated with transformational leadership (.50).
• Overall servant leadership was most distinct from transformational leadership.

They also examined each theory in relation to behavioral outcomes (e.g., job performance, organizational citizenship), attitudinal outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, engagement, commitment), and relational perceptions (trust, leader-member exchange). 

• The relationships between the outcome variables and authentic leadership and ethical leadership were about the same as transformational leadership 
• On the other hand, servant leadership explained about 12% more of the variance than transformational leadership alone
• “Servant leadership is the only emerging form that seems to support construct nonredundancy [with transformational leadership theory].

The authors suggested, based on their findings, that the primary instrument used to measure transformational leadership, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), “could be augmented by including a fifth explicit ethical dimension.” For organizations, they suggested incorporating training in moral and ethical behavior, adding an ethical component to evaluations, and hiring ethical leaders.
 
My take-aways:
 
1. I have stated my opinion about leadership in my book, blogs, and other writings. Leaders inspire others to go above and beyond the normal requirements of the job. Transactional leadership is management; transformational leadership is leadership. 
2. Hoch and associates have offered empirical results that suggest authentic and ethical leadership theories cover leadership activities mostly covered by transformational leadership. However what they do offer, and what is brought more to the forefront by servant leadership, is the importance of ethical, moral conduct by a leader. Increasingly in popular media, we see the need for ethical leadership. 
3.  Organizational culture is important in nurturing and supporting ethical conduct. Unfortunately leaders who are less ethical or morally inclined may damage long-standing organizational norms.
 
Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and servant leadership explain variance above and beyond transformational leadership? A meta-analysis. Journal of Management, 44(2), 501-529.
 
Image, "Leadership", by Nick Youngson - http://www.nyphotographic.com/. Attribution: Alpha Stock Images - http://alphastockimages.com/  Original image:  http://creative-commons-images.com/handwriting/l/leadership.html Shared with permission: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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© John Ballard, PhD, 2018. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Ron Riggio, Book Review, Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Now also available as an audiobook and paperback.  

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