TITLE:
Is Training What Made and Nurtured Transformational Leaders?
AUTHORS:
Iskandar Deeb
KEYWORDS:
Transformational, Leadership, Training, Knowledge, Born, Made
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Leadership,
Vol.12 No.3,
September
25,
2023
ABSTRACT: This quantitative and cross-sectional study examines
the relationship between training and acquiring
transformational leadership skills to discuss the assumption that transformational
leadership skills can be acquired through training and that leadership is not a
trait, personality, or character. James Kouzes and Barry Posner introduced a transformational leadership model named the Exemplary Leader. The authors claimed that leadership is not a trait, but a function and a skill available
for everyone to acquire, and those who are willing to put the effort to apply and
master the five practices of an exemplary leader can become great leaders and make extraordinary things happen in their organizations. For this study, a sample of 249 middle managers
working in insurance companies in the UAE
completed the LPI questionnaire and responded to questions regarding training
history, training functions within their organizations, and their knowledge of transformational
leadership. The study’s mean values indicated
that participants exhibited high leadership practice levels. Further, Pearson’s correlation was deployed to examine the strength
and direction of the relationship between
training, knowledge of transformational leadership models, and exhibiting the five practices of an exemplary leader. Results revealed a weak positive correlation.
In addition, an independent sample t-test was conducted to examine any difference between groups in relation to training functions within the participants’ organizations;
the results showed no significant difference. This concludes that no relationship
existed between training and exhibiting transformational leadership, unlike
Kouzes and Posner’s assumption that leadership
practices are not innate characteristics, but can be acquired by training.