To what extent does transformational leadership improve employee performance in the UK public sector?

Introduction

Transformational leadership has become the dominant model in leadership development programmes across the UK public sector, from NHS trusts to local authorities. Its appeal is intuitive: leaders who articulate a compelling vision, attend to individual staff and encourage new thinking should produce more committed and more effective employees. This essay argues that transformational leadership does improve employee performance in public organisations, but that the effect is smaller and more conditional than its advocates suggest, because the bureaucratic structures that define the sector limit how far a leader's vision can be translated into changed practice.

The argument proceeds in three stages. It first defines transformational leadership using Bass and Riggio's (2006) four components. It then evaluates the empirical evidence for its effect on performance, before examining the features of public sector work that moderate that effect. A final section considers whether transactional leadership, often presented as its inferior counterpart, is better suited to some public sector roles.

Defining transformational leadership

Bass and Riggio (2006) describe transformational leadership as comprising idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualised consideration. The distinction from transactional leadership lies in the mechanism. Transactional leaders secure performance through exchange, rewarding compliance and correcting deviation, whereas transformational leaders seek to change how followers understand their own work and its purpose.