Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade
Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this study is to analyze the perception of employees of a Brazilian financial institutionabout transformational leadership and, subsequently, compare the results amongst the different groups ofrespondents.Design/methodology/approach – The authors present herein an empirical, descriptive and quantitativestudy, in which the survey was used as the main data collection technique. The survey was applied to a nationalsample composed of 603 employees (followers) operating in a financial institution. The authors utilized a fewstatistical techniques to analyze the data collected, namely descriptive statistics, factor analysis, varianceanalysis and linear regression.Findings – The results indicate that employees have a high perception toward transformational leadership; nosignificant differences between the groups of respondents were found. Followers perceive their leader as atransformational agent, who inspires, encourages, considers and motivates them.Practical implications – The relevance of this research theme and the main findings of this researchcontribute to managerial practices since the leadership style under investigation is associated with positiveoutcomes.Originality/value – This research sought to explore transformational leadership in an unexpected context.The originality of the study relies on the identification of a positive leadership style in the national financialsystem, which is usually more focused on economic criteria. There is a lack of research on leadership in Brazil,especially when it comes to quantitative studies. Not only the methodology but also the sample representing theentire Brazilian territory bring about the originality of this research
