Transformational Leadership and Followers’ Objective Performance: The Mediating Role of Leader – Member Exchange

Abstract

There is little study on the impact of transformational leadership on real business performance. We seek to fill this gap and propose a model using intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration as key independent variables to explain real business performance. We use leader-member-exchange as a mediator. We show that the leader-member exchange fully mediates intellectual stimulation and real performance. Implications for the theory and practice of leadership are discussed.

Keywords: Transformational leadership; Leader-member exchange; Leadership; Objective performance; Intellectual stimulation; Individualized consideration