The relationship between personality and transformational leadership in the retail industry

Abstract

The new economy is characterised by globalisation, increased competition, and rapid changes. In order to remain competitive, organisations need to be proactive and innovative to survive. This is mirrored in the South African retail industry which is developing into a dynamic industry driven by changes in technology, shifts in consumer behaviour, saturating markets, and increased competition as a result of globalisation. In light of these increased demands on organisations to be more flexible, adaptable, and competitive, new demands have subsequently been placed on leaders. The retail industry is highly labour-intensive and requires effective leadership at all levels, and Transformational Leadership (TL) has been shown to be an effective leadership style to improve various organisational outcomes. In recent years, personality has been used as a means to predict TL behaviours in leaders. One model of personality that has proved its utility in identifying leadership characteristics has been the Five Factor Model of Personality. However, not much is known about the relationship between TL and the Big Five personality factors in the retail industry. The current study utilised a quantitative research approach in which 101 leaders in a retail organisation in South Africa were assessed on TL and the Big Five personality factors, using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the Fifteen Factor Plus Personality Questionnaire. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the statistical relationship between TL and the Big Five personality factors. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant relationships between three of the Big Five personality factors, namely extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness, and any of the TL dimensions or the composite TL score. There are two statistically significant relationships between one Big Five personality factor, namely agreeableness, and two TL dimensions, namely inspirational motivation (.196; p < .05), and individualised consideration (.200; p < .05). Only one Big Five personality factor, namely emotional stability, is statistically significantly related to all the TL dimensions as well as the composite TL score, ranging from a low of .539 (p < .01) for idealised behaviour to a high of .556 (p < .01) for the composite TL score. The study concluded that the Big Five personality factors should be used with caution to identify and develop potential TL behaviours in the diverse South African retail context.