Beyond the big five: Leader goal orientation as a predictor of leadership effectiveness Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • This study examined proximal traits as mediators of the relationships between distal traits and leadership effectiveness. Specifically, we examined goal orientation, leadership self-efficacy, and motivation to lead (MTL) as antecedents of leadership effectiveness, after controlling for the Big Five personality traits. We tested our hypotheses with a sample of 100 leaders of four-person teams performing a manufacturing task in a laboratory setting. Consistent with expectation, leadership self-efficacy partially mediated the relationships between learning goal orientation and Affective-Identity MTL as well as Social-Normative MTL, after controlling for the Big Five. Noncalculative MTL related significantly to averaged team member ratings of leadership effectiveness, after controlling for both the leader's and the team member's personality. These results help aid in our understanding of why leader traits relate to leadership effectiveness. Copyright 2007, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

published proceedings

  • HUMAN PERFORMANCE

author list (cited authors)

  • Hendricks, J. W., & Payne, S. C.

citation count

  • 15

complete list of authors

  • Hendricks, Joseph W||Payne, Stephanie C

publication date

  • October 2007