Transformational Leadership and Job Performance: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement
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According to Bass (1985), transformational leadership comprises four dimensions.
*First, idealized influence is the degree to which followers realize leaders' value, confidence, belief, power, and ethical or moral orientation; their willingness to identify with these attributes; and a diversion from self-interest to higher collective goals (Antonakis & House, 2002).
* Second, inspirational motivation describes how leaders articulate visions to inspire and motivate subordinates to reach desired goals (Antonakis & House, 2002).
*Third is intellectual stimulation, which refers to leaders who challenge the status quo and underlying assumptions, encourage followers to do so, and are open to new and creative solutions to problems (Antonakis & House, 2002).
*The final dimension is individualized consideration. Here, like mentors or coaches, leaders provide emotional support and consideration for each follower (Antonakis & House, 2002).
Through these four dimensions, transformational leaders engage followers and accomplish significant outcomes (Burns, 1978).
to emphasize the importance of goals, similar to role models (House & Shamir, 1993), transformational leaders invest their full resources in attaining these goals. House and Shamir (1993) added that transformational leaders increase the intrinsic value of goal accomplishment and foster followers' commitment, attaching a sense of meaningfulness to goals. Thus, both idealized influence and inspirational motivation might make members believe that collective goals are meaningful (i.e., psychological meaningfulness) and attainable, and more willing to present themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally at work.
Transformational leaders may successfully divert followers from self-serving to holistic and challenging goals, some difficulties might arise during this process. For followers, challenging and holistic goals imply high risk; thus, unforeseen failures may occur during work role performance. This unsafe feeling and unpredictability of outcomes hinder members' desire to strive for these goals, unless leaders create a safe and supportive environment (Kahn, 1990) in which they can express themselves without fears of negative consequences. Transformational leaders pay personal attention to each member, try to understand their needs, and provide emotional support when they are frustrated at work. These supportive gestures enhance members' feelings of safety and encourage them to present their preferred self when working on tasks. For example, earlier research contended that transformational leadership could increase perceived supervisor support (Liaw et al., 2010).
Transformational leaders not only comfort members when dealing with challenging goals but also enhance members' problem-solving abilities. That is, transformational leaders use intellectual stimulation to encourage members to question the status quo and approaches, and invite their opinions or solutions to improve productivity and conserve resources (e.g., energy). As such, transformational leaders encourage members to effectively use their intelligence or experience, view problems from various angles (Bass, 1985; House & Shamir, 1993).
