Are Formal Leaders the Only Ones Benefitting From Leadership Training? A Shared Leadership Perspective

Abstract

Leadership training most often involves training of formal leaders, and little is known about the potential benefits of leadership training for other members of an organization. Using theories of shared leadership, the current study examined outcomes of transformational leadership training that targets both formal and informal leaders (i.e., both vertical and shared leadership). The training was set in a Swedish paper pulp factory and involved formal and informal leaders participating in 20 days of training over a period of 16 months. Based on employee survey data collected both pre- and postintervention our analyses revealed that both formal and informal leaders significantly improved their transformational leadership behaviors. Interestingly, the improvement in transformational leadership behaviors of formal and informal leaders tended to predict employee efficiency and well-being in different ways. Improvements in formal leaders’ transformational leadership were related to employee well-being, while informal leaders’ increases in transformational leadership were associated with efficiency. The results point toward the benefit of a shared leadership perspective on leadership training and indicate that improvements in transformational leadership may affect employees differently depending on who in the organization displays them.