Do Ethical, Authentic, and Servant Leadership Explain Variance Above and Beyond Transformational Leadership? A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

This study compares three emerging forms of positive leadership that emphasize ethical and moral behavior (i.e., authentic leadership, ethical leadership, and servant leadership) with transformational leadership in their associations with a wide range of organizationally relevant measures. While scholars have noted conceptual overlap between transformational leadership and these newer leadership forms, there has been inadequate investigation of the empirical relationships with transformational leadership and the ability (or lack thereof) of these leadership forms to explain incremental variance beyond transformational leadership. In response, we conducted a series of meta-analyses to provide a comprehensive assessment of these emerging leadership forms' relationships with variables evaluated in the extant literature. Second, we tested the relative performance of each of these leadership forms in explaining incremental variance, beyond transformational leadership, in nine outcomes. We also provide relative weights analyses to further evaluate the relative contributions of the emerging leadership forms versus transformational leadership. The high correlations between both authentic leadership and ethical leadership with transformational leadership coupled with their low amounts of incremental variance suggest that their utility is low unless they are being used to explore very specific

Servant leadership: A meta‐analytic examination of incremental contribution, moderation, and mediation

“…In addition, we examined the reference lists from any relevant review articles and most recent papers (Banks et al, 2018;Eva et al, 2018;Hoch et al, 2018;Parris & Peachey, 2013;van Dierendonck, 2011). To identify studies for our meta-analysis, we first searched for studies examining SL published from 1998 to the end of 2018.…”

“…However, Hoch et al (2018) provided meta-analytic support for the incremental predictive validity of SL over TL: Analysis showed that SL explained important incremental variance in employee OCBs, but little in job performance. However, Hoch et al (2018) provided meta-analytic support for the incremental predictive validity of SL over TL: Analysis showed that SL explained important incremental variance in employee OCBs, but little in job performance.…”

“…To complete incremental and mediational analysis, we used correlations from our meta-analysis, and correlations obtained from other recent meta-analyses (Hoch et al, 2018;Martin, Guillaume, Thomas, Lee, & Epitropaki, 2016). For some relationships (e.g., between procedural justice and employee voice), we did not have enough correlations within our sample and could not find previous meta-analytic estimates.…”

“…In relation to incremental predictive validity, we included not only TL, but also AL and EL, thus extending previous meta-analyses (Banks et al, 2018;Hoch et al, 2018). In relation to incremental predictive validity, we included not only TL, but also AL and EL, thus extending previous meta-analyses (Banks et al, 2018;Hoch et al, 2018).…”

From the top-down: Transformational leadership considerations for health care organizations

“…TL is also a moderate-strong predictor of job performance, helping behaviors, employee engagement, organizational commitment, trust in and satisfaction with supervisors, perceptions of leader effectiveness in achieving results, and followers' extra effort. [8,9] TL can positively impact RN job satisfaction and the institutions that employ them by impacting how RNs experience their work and their workplace. [10,11] Employee job satisfaction is linked to the mentoring, shared vision, and generosity manifested in enhanced leader-follower relationships of the TL model.…”