AUTHOR=Steinmann Barbara , Klug Hannah J. P. , Maier Günter W. TITLE=The Path Is the Goal: How Transformational Leaders Enhance Followers’ Job Attitudes and Proactive Behavior JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

While leading through goals is usually associated with a task-oriented leadership style, the present work links goal setting to transformational leadership. An online survey with two time points was conducted with employees to investigate the influence of transformational leadership on followers’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and proactive behavior via goal attributes. Findings indicate that transformational leaders influence the extent to which followers evaluate organizational goals as important and perceive them as attainable. Multiple mediation analysis revealed that these goal attributes transmit the effect of transformational leadership on followers’ job attitudes and proactive behavior. However, goal importance and goal attainability seem to be of differential importance for the different outcomes.