Transformational Leadership: An Initial Investigation in Sales Management

Numerous conceptual and empirical articles in sales management emphasize the influence sales managers can have on various job-related responses of sales personnel, such as job satisfaction, motivation, and performance. When examining this issue, the preponderance of literature has considered a leadership style where sales managers clarify for and communicate to salespeople the selling role and indicate to them how they can receive valued organizational rewards in exchange for successful performance (i.e., “transactional leadership”). Recent research in organizational behavior has found that an alternate leadership approach—”transformational leadership”—can engender improved work-related responses of employees over those produced through transactional leadership. This paper reports results of a study, however, which found that a transactional approach may be preferable to a transformational style for enhancing salespeople's affective and behavioral responses.