The leadership‐culture connection: an exploratory investigation

Abstract

Examine the nature of the relationship between leadership and organizational culture in a privately owned sales and service organization with a well established record of success in industry. A total of 782 employees completed the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ Form 5X) and the organizational culture survey. Results indicate that the leadership style of immediate supervisors was significantly related to employee perceptions of organizational culture. Supervisors rated high in transformational leadership behaviors were associated with higher perceived levels of mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency in the organization compared to their transactional counterparts. Immediate supervisors had a greater influence on employee perceptions of culture than all other leadership levels within the organization. Concludes that cultural leadership is a critical competency requirement for the whole organization in the twenty‐first century.