Factors influencing followers' perception of organisational leaders

Abstract

Purpose

This study seeks to confirm the main factors in the followers' perception of leaders and to explore effects of collectivist values, age and work experience on followers' perception of leaders.

Design/methodology/approach

Confirmatory factor analysis is done for the 32‐item Romance of leadership scale and an exploratory multi‐level research in perceptions of 452 individuals in five cultural groups.

Findings

The study confirms the “influence” and the “interchangeability” of leaders as independent constructs in the followers' perception of leaders. The results indicate: older followers view leadership change more negatively than younger followers; with more work experience followers view the influence of leaders diminishing; differences in perception of followers from collectivist and individualistic cultures were inconclusive.

Research limitations/implications

A large proportion of the sample used in this study were young undergraduates with little work experience and exposure to organisational leadership. A more representative spread of age and work experience in a replication of this study will mean the findings could be generalised.

Practical implications

The research suggests that inexperienced followers attribute more influence to leaders. With greater exposure at work they are likely to see limitations in their leaders' influence. As followers age they see leadership change as more troublesome for organisational performance. This could create cognitive dissonance among followers who see leaders as having diminishing influence but at the same time being increasingly irreplaceable.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the relatively limited amount of research on followers' perception of leaders. This will assist in understanding the determinants of effective leadership.

Citation

Chong, E. and Wolf, H. (2010), "Factors influencing followers' perception of organisational leaders", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 402-419. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011056434