MEASUREMENT AND PREDICTION OF LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS BASED ON ATTRIBUTES

Author

Thomas W. Hovatter, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

1-1-2009

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Workforce Education and Development

First Advisor

Putnam, Alvin

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate any relationship between an established group of senior military officers' leadership styles and their personal values as a predictor of future effective leadership. The study evaluated the relationship between Nelson's (1989) 80-item Personal Values Profile (PVP) and Bass and Avolio's (2004) full-range leadership model (MLQ 5X) as a means to predict effective leadership. The respondents to the surveys were a unique sample of convenience consisting of 1978 graduates of the United States Naval Academy who had spent 30 years as officers in either the U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps. The results of the MLQ 5X indicated that the group of career military officers scored higher than Bass and Avolio's normative group in seven of the nine leadership styles and in all three of the leadership outcomes. The two leadership styles in which the career military officers scored lower than the normative group were in the passive-avoidant or non-leadership categories. This sample group scored higher than the normative group in every category of transactional leadership styles as well as in every category of transformational leadership styles. Linear regression analysis of the full-range leadership model against the Personal Values Profile identified a moderate predictor of effective leadership based on personal values when transactional leadership and transformational leadership were combined. A second predictor for effective leadership was found when only transformational leadership was evaluated.