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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factor structure of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) in a UK context. For a number of years studies have failed to reproduce the original MLQ factor structure. A paper published in Leadership & Organization Development Journal by Alban‐Metcalfe and Alimo‐Metcalfe in 2000 suggested that, in the UK context, contextually different views on leadership could be prevalent. This paper therefore reports a UK‐specific factor structure.

The paper used a dataset from a recent piece of research on leadership by the first and third authors. The sample consisted of 367 managers from 38 UK‐based manufacturing organisations. The research used multiple ratings that consisted of 366 self‐ratings, 315 superior‐ratings, 238 peer‐ratings and 325 subordinate‐ratings and these ratings covered all levels across participating organisations – CEO, MD, directors, senior, middle and lower level management.

The findings uncovered a variant of the MLQ model that comprises active constructive leadership, active management‐by‐exception, and passive avoidant leadership. The findings also lend support to those who suggest that passive management‐by‐exception and laissez‐faire leadership are the same, or a similar, concept and support contingent reward as highly positively correlated with transformational leadership. Particularly interesting is the stand‐alone nature of active management‐by‐exception and which supports claims that there is a different view of leadership in the UK from that held in the USA.

The originality of the paper is based around the understanding of the MLQ in the UK and has produced a model of the full range leadership model that relates to the UK manufacturing context.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between transformational/transactional/passive-avoidant leadership behaviors, teachers’ perceptions of leader effectiveness and teachers’ job satisfaction. In this context, the paper also examines the conceptual model underlying the scales of the most widely used instrument in research on transformational leadership, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). The theoretical framework for this investigation is that of the full range model of leadership.

An adapted version of the MLQ was administered to a sample of 438 secondary school teachers in the Republic of Cyprus. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used in the analysis of the data.

The results provide support for a three-factor structure model consisting of transformational, transactional and passive-avoidant forms of leadership, representing three distinct components of leadership behavior. Teachers’ perceptions of leader effectiveness and teachers’ overall job satisfaction were found to be significantly linked to the leadership behaviors included in the full range model of leadership.

The findings are cross-sectional and based on the subjective perceptions of teachers. The analysis of the data suggests that transformational leadership may not be a sufficient condition for (perceived) headteacher effectiveness.

The link between transformational leadership, perceived leader effectiveness and teachers’ overall job satisfaction has not been investigated in many studies. The present study attempts to address this gap.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factor structure and the measurement invariance of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) across gender of K-12 school principals (n=6,317) in the USA.

Nine first-order factor models and four second-order factor models were tested using confirmatory factor analysis.

The results suggested that the nine-factor model provided the best fit for the data. Further examination revealed that most constructs lacked convergent validity and discriminant validity. Second-order factor models were tested and the hierarchical model with two higher order factors (i.e. transformational and transactional leadership) was deemed the best fit and it was then tested for measurement invariance between females and males. The measurement model was found to be invariant across gender. Findings suggested that female school principals demonstrated significantly greater transformational leadership behaviour, while male school principals demonstrated significantly greater transactional leadership behaviour.

This study addressed construct and factor issues previously associated with the MLQ in the measurement of transformational and transactional leadership among a variety of organizations. By using a sample of K-12 school principals across gender, this study has provided support that may ameliorate contextual doubts of transformational leadership behaviour when examining the relational aspects needed to improve schools.

Although the measurement of self‐leadership (RSLQ) has been developed and validated with samples from the USA with promising reliability and construct validity, its generalizability to the Chinese context is problematic. The purpose of this study is to modify the existing self‐leadership scale (RSLQ) in order to make the application of self‐leadership theory and measurement more relevant to the Chinese culture. This modification includes: enhancing the generalization of self‐leadership measurement to the Chinese context by refining the items of four existing dimensions (self‐observation, evaluations of beliefs and assumptions, natural rewards, and self‐punishment) found to have low‐reliabilities in one previous validation study; and extending the breadth of some self‐leadership components based on the cross‐cultural theory about self‐concept differences between individualism and collectivism. Three self‐leadership subscales are newly developed through extending three self‐leadership components (natural rewards, self‐observation, and evaluating beliefs and assumptions) with the incorporation of social/relation‐based features associated with collectivism.

The modified RSLQ was administered to 569 Chinese students. The reliability and construct validity of this modified self‐leadership scale was explored using exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Test of association with self‐efficacy was also examined.

Results from the EFA demonstrated good reliability and stable factor structure for the modified scale and CFA demonstrated acceptable model fit for 11 factors of the modified self‐leadership scale. Most notably, the refinement of four existing dimensions (self‐observation, evaluations of beliefs and assumptions, natural rewards, and self‐punishment), which had failed to reach acceptable levels of reliability in Neubert and Wu's Chinese sample, showed increases above the commonly recommended level of 0.7. Two new extended dimensions, relation‐based natural rewards and social‐oriented evaluation of beliefs and assumptions, consistently emerged in two independent student samples. More interestingly, the items of another extended dimensions, relation‐based self‐observation consistently merged with the task‐based self‐observation (the original subscale) to form one factor, suggesting that, in Chinese culture, task‐based self‐observation cannot be separated from relation‐based self‐observation. The modified RSLQ was also positively and strongly associated with self‐efficacy.

Further validation work is required to examine whether the refined RSLQ could be generalized to another collectivistic country such as Korea or Japan.

Managers will benefit from understanding how culture shapes an individual's use of self‐leadership strategies.

The study makes a significant contribution to the universal application and generalizability of self‐leadership measurement to the Chinese population. The validation works to support the belief that the modified 38‐item RSLQ is a superior measure with higher internal consistency and more stable factor structure than that of the existing instrument, which could be generalized to a Chinese context.

This study examined the relationship between self‐leadership and personality through an analysis and comparison of hierarchical factor structures. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine several competing models combining the hierarchical factor structures of self‐leadership and personality. Model fit increased significantly through a progression of models that reflected increasingly greater distinction between self‐leadership skill dimensions and key personality traits. The best fitting model consisted of a hierarchical factor structure with three first‐order self‐leadership factors, three first‐order personality factors, and two correlated second‐order factors. Unexpectedly, the general second‐order factors of self‐leadership and personality were statistically indistinguishable. Nevertheless, these results seem to provide some initial evidence that self‐leadership dimensions are distinct from, yet related to, certain key personality traits. The implications of these results for future self‐leadership research and practice are discussed.

Building upon Patterson's servant leadership theory, this study aims to present an instrument to measure the constructs of this working theory (identified as agapao love, humanity, altruism, vision, trust, service, and empowerment).

Specifically, the seven component concepts, as defined by Patterson, were used to build items for a servant leadership instrument. This study used DeVellis' “Guidelines in Scale Development” to develop an instrument for Patterson's new theory of servant leadership. The participants for the study consisted of a stratified sample taken from the study response data base. The surveys were created, and administered, using an online survey using surveysuite.

Three separate data collections were used for the development of this instrument reducing the 71‐item scale to 42 items yielding five factors: empowerment, love, humility, trust, and vision.

Recommend that future research include surveys at companies and organizations that advocate servant leadership concepts. Future research should include how each gender influences some of these items.

It is the intention that this instrument has the ability to predict or give measurement to the concepts of Patterson's theory of servant leadership so that a servant leader can measure his or her effectiveness as a servant leader.

According to the review of the literature, this is the first instrument to measure five factors on servant leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to address the statistical issues associated with the hierarchically structured data in previous studies that focused on servant leadership. To resolve these issues, multilevel modeling methods were applied to re-visit the construct validity of the servant leadership questionnaire developed by Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) and investigate the relationship between servant leadership and job satisfaction under a multilevel framework.

The survey data was obtained from a sample of 2,089 teachers from 117 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. The analyses were conducted using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MLCFA) and multilevel structural equation modeling (MLSEM).

The results revealed the significant and non-trivial variances that were explained at the organization level in the items measuring servant leadership, which justified the use of MLCFA and MLSEM. The results of MLCFA provided empirical support for the multidimensional construct as well as the second-order factorial structure of servant leadership measures at both the individual and organization levels. In addition, the positive relationships between servant leadership and the followers’ job satisfaction were found to vary at different levels.

This study reiterates the importance of using appropriate methods to capture a solid definition of the construct of servant leadership and provides new insights into the conceptual framework of servant leadership as well as the effects of servant leadership on individual and organizational outcomes.

This paper aimed to examine the relationship between 360° assessment of leadership derailment factors and leadership effectiveness, differences across position levels, and impact of self‐other agreement.

The data were from an archive of 360° feedback (N=523). Boss ratings of leadership effectiveness were regressed on leadership derailment factors as rated by other rater sources (e.g. peers and direct reports). Polynomial regressions were conducted to examine the impact of self‐other agreement.

As hypothesized, derailment factors had statistically significant negative correlations with leadership effectiveness. Higher‐level managers were rated higher on derailment factors than lower‐level managers. In‐agreement high ratings of derailment factors (i.e. rated high by both self and others) were associated with lower effectiveness than in‐agreement low ratings (i.e. rated low by both self and others). Self under‐ratings of derailment factors (i.e. self ratings lower than others’ ratings) were related to lower effectiveness than self over‐ratings (i.e. self ratings higher than others’ ratings). It also was found that self ratings were less accurate than ratings from other rater sources.

Leadership derailment induces significant direct as well as indirect costs to organizations. The 360° feedback process can be used to help managers enhance their self‐awareness of derailment potential. Findings of this study can be used to help interpret 360° assessment results.

Past research on 360° feedback has focused primarily on positive leadership characteristics. This study represents one of the few in the literature that empirically has examined the assessment of negative leadership characteristics in 360° feedback.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors influencing leadership development (LD). It responds to the following question: what are the factors influencing the phenomenon of LD in the Syrian context.

A qualitative research method has been adopted, using face-to-face interviews with leaders in middle and top management.

The findings revealed that there are two types of factor influencing LD: determinant factors to LD and influencing factors on the application of LD.

Research data has been conducted in an unstable environment because of what is called the Arab Spring, so data were collected only from for-profit sector companies that presented more flexibility for participation than state and non-profit sector organisations.

The paper explored two different types of factors influencing LD: factors influencing the application of LD, and factors determining LD. This helps designers of LD programmes and companies operating in Syrian context to differentiate between these two factors.

The study offers data and interpretation on factors influencing LD in a specific context on which foundation further studies in the Middle Eastern context can be developed.

The purpose of this paper is to find out what are the effective school principal leadership (ESPL) factors or indicators that Chinese teachers consider or expect. It explains how and why ESPL factors are important for effective school improvement (ESI). It tries to expand the domain knowledge of ESPL.

The questionnaires consisted of eight factors and 40 indicators. The rating instrument was a five point Likert Scale (from 1 to 5). In total, 100 school teachers in Liaoning Province of mainland China were participated and surveyed. Factor analysis, t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the collected data.

This study provides empirical insights about what ESPL factors that Chinese teachers considered. According to the results of t-test and one-way ANOVA, there were no significant differences between and among the respondents’ gender, areas and years of teaching experiences in rating the ESPL factors. The findings argue that the 16 extracted ESPL indicators have not only revealed the expectations of Chinese teachers toward their school principals, but also have drawn a three-dimensional-image of what a good and effective school principal should be. From the Chinese teachers’ eyes, a good school principal should not only possess good managerial skills in the aspects of time and routine work (such as self management, time management, influence, decision making and commitment) but also should possess good emotional intelligence, human skills, more attentiveness and consideration toward the needs of their followers (such as comfort, communication skills and empathy, etc.).

This study provides implications for all school stakeholders, particularly for school principals, school leaders and educational managers both in and outside of schools. A good school principal should possess good ESPL characters/factors. If not, at least he/she should be aware of the ESPL characters/factors and actively adopt or adapt them. Thus the ESPL factors or indicators extracted from this study can be served as a mirror and a useful knowledge.

This study belongs to very few of this kind of researches carried out in mainland China. Its findings have made some contributions to the ESPL research in mainland China, to the research of school leadership and ESI.