A preliminary study: perceived transformational leadership and work engagement within the South African army

The objective of the study is to determine the relationship between the perceived
transformational leadership styles of officers (as perceived by their followers) and
their followers’ levels of work engagement. Followers (n=307) were identified in
units of the South African Army. They completed the Utrecht Work Engagement
Scale (UWES) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Form 5X) for
their specific leaders. Correlational analyses indicate significant correlations
between the transformational leadership style of officers and their followers’ work
engagement. A small amount of the variance in the work engagement outcomes
can be predicted by transformational leadership. The findings suggest that there is
a relationship between idealised influence (attributed) and vigour and dedication.
Furthermore, individualised consideration was shown to relate to absorption within
the South African sample. Idealised influence was found to predict some variance
in vigour and dedication and individual consideration to predict some variance in
absorption