Improving School Leadership: The Connection of Transformational Leadership and Psychological Well-Being of the Followers

• Main Authors: Pamela Bryant, Jennifer T. Butcher, Johnny O'Connor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ralph W. Steen Library, Stephen F. Austin State University 2016-10-01
• Series: School Leadership Review
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=slr

In this current era of public school accountability in the United States, the passage of No Child Left Behind resulted in dramatic changes for public school districts (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). Although the recent reauthorization, entitled Every Student Succeeds Act, allowed greater flexibility on the state and local levels, effective school leadership still remained a critical factor when establishing and maintaining high standards of student learning (Executive Office of the President, 2015). Onorato (2013) noted the federal and state accountability mandates have forced public school administrators to transform the educational environment while serving as instructional leaders for teachers and students. Additionally, Onorato noted as accountability pressures increased, educational leaders were compelled to strengthen student achievement through increased leadership qualities. Furthermore, transformational leadership empowered the followers to strive with higher levels of confidence and motivation while the followers also assumed the traits and actions of transformational leadership (Onorato, 2013). This phenomenological narrative study was designed to describe the transformational leadership components of selected superintendents in the state of Texas, which directly affected a follower's psychological well-being. All seven individuals who participated in the research study were current or recent superintendents with experience in turning around a low-performing campus or district. The leader participants self-identified their own transformational leadership skills using the MLQ SX-Short by Avolio and Bass (2013). The research questions allowed for further investigation into the influence of the four components of transformational leadership on the follower's psychological well-being. Findings indicated idealized influence and inspirational motivation as the most dominant transformational leadership components of the participants. Findings also emphasized the importance of the positive impact of transformational leadership processes on the follower's psychological well-being.