Abstract
Previous research on the moral foundations of transformational leadership has focused primarily on stage of justice reasoning; this study focuses on developmental mode of care reasoning. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted on data coded from interviews with a sample of Canadian public sector managers (N = 58) and survey responses from their subordinates (N = 119). Results indicated that managers’ developmental mode of care reasoning significantly and positively predicted subordinates’ reports of transformational (but not transactional) leadership, with significant differences in follower reports of transformational leadership between those using more versus less advanced modes of care reasoning. Conceptual implications for understanding transformational leadership and the ethics of leadership, directions for future research, and suggestions for leadership interventions are discussed.
Notes
The Ethic of Care Interview was used with permission of Dr. Eva Skoe, University of Oslo, Norway. All rights reserved.
MLQ items were used by special permission of the Distributor, Mind Garden, Inc., 855 Oak Grove Ave., Suite 215, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA www.mindgarden.com from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire by Bernard M. Bass and Bruce J. Avolio. Copyright 1995 by Bernard M. Bass and Bruce J. Avolio. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of items is prohibited without the Distributor’s written consent.
Based on a priori conceptual analysis, those in the focus on self or first transitional phase were classified as group one; those with a focus on others were classified as group two, and those in the second transitional phase or having a focus on both self and other were classified as group three.
See footnote 3.
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This research was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grants to each of the authors.
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Simola, S., Barling, J. & Turner, N. Transformational Leadership and Leaders’ Mode of Care Reasoning. J Bus Ethics 108, 229–237 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1080-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1080-x