Can Transformational Leadership Increase the Happiness Index in Organisations through Empowerment?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to understand how transformational leadership is related to psychological empowerment and how it affects happiness index in a followers life. A total of 103 employees from various Indian information technology organizations rated their superiors transformational leadership behavior and their own empowerment and happiness. For this study, two dimensions of empowerment were taken into consideration – meaning and competence. Five dimensions of transformational leadership were captured-idealised influence attributed, idealised influence behavior, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Findings suggest that idealised influence attributed and competence are the best predictors of happiness. Regression analyses also show that both competence and meaning partially mediate the relationship between each of the five dimensions of transformational leadership and followers happiness. The paper makes recommendations to managers and organizations for improving their leadership styles, which in turn may strengthen positive attitudinal and behavioral changes among employees, thereby making them more productive.

Keywords: Transformational Leadership, Empowerment, Meaning, Competence, Happiness Index

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