A preliminary study: perceived transformational leadership and work engagement within the South African army

Abstract

The objective of the study is to determine the relationship between the perceived transformational leadership styles of officers (as perceived by their followers) and their followers’ levels of work engagement. Followers (n=307) were identified in units of the South African Army. They completed the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Form 5X) for their specific leaders. Correlational analyses indicate significant correlations between the transformational leadership style of officers and their followers’ work engagement. A small amount of the variance in the work engagement outcomes can be predicted by transformational leadership. The findings suggest that there is a relationship between idealised influence (attributed) and vigour and dedication. Furthermore, individualised consideration was shown to relate to absorption within the South African sample. Idealised influence was found to predict some variance in vigour and dedication and individual consideration to predict some variance in absorption.