Contextualization of Leadership using the Example of Safety-Critical Contexts

This study investigates whether the effectiveness of Management-By-Exception-Active and transformational leadership on employee performance is dependent on the level of safety salience within employees’ work contexts. Current leadership research has often paid little attention to the context in which leadership takes place. The present research advances existing leadership research by merging contingency views of leadership with transformational-transactional leadership theory. Using a two-source study design and multilevel modelling, it is examined whether injury likelihood and exposure to hazards, as two contextual attributes, moderate the relationship between Management-By-Exception-Active and transformational leadership on employee safety performance and job performance. Results indicated that Management-By- Exception-Active might be beneficial for performance if injury likelihood is high, but might have a detrimental effect on performance if injury likelihood is low. An unexpected finding was that transformational leadership was less positively related to performance criteria if team-level hazard exposure was high compared to conditions where team-level hazard exposure was low. Overall, the research indicates the importance to consider contextual attributes for a more refined understanding of leadership effectiveness.