The Influence of Transformational Leadership and Leader Attitudes on Subordinate Attitudes and Implementation Success

Abstract

Recent literature has focused on identifying factors that facilitate or impede the implementation of innovation in organizations. Attitudes toward change and transformational leadership are regarded as important determinants of implementation success. This study tested a multilevel model of transformational leadership and leaders’ attitudes toward the innovation being implemented as predictors of staff attitudes and implementation success. Participants were 565 service providers ( n = 478) and their supervisors ( n = 87) working in mental health organizations currently implementing an evidence-based practice (EBP). Results provided support for positive relationships between transformational leadership and staff attitudes toward EBP, as well as staff attitudes toward EBP and implementation success. Moreover, results supported an indirect relationship between transformational leadership and implementation success through employees’ attitudes toward EBP. The results suggest that the leader’s behaviors are likely more critical to innovation implementation than the leader’s attitudes.