The principled leadership scale: An integration of value-based leadership

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology ISSN: (Online) 2071-0763, (Print) 0258-5200 Page 1 of 10 Original Research The principled leadership scale: An integration of value-based leadership Authors: Karen Hendrikz1 Amos S. Engelbrecht1 Orientation: A need exists to investigate leader behaviour necessary to curb the corruption that has infected and weakened South Africa’s moral fibre. Such leader behaviour would need to be underpinned by a set of universal moral values. Affiliations: 1 Department of Industrial Psychology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a new measure, the principled leadership scale (PLS), by integrating the value-based behaviours inherent in transformational, servant, authentic and ethical leadership. Corresponding author: Amos Engelbrecht, Dates: Received: 22 May 2018 Accepted: 13 Nov. 2018 Published: 27 Mar. 2019 How to cite this article: Hendrikz, K., & Engelbrecht, A.S. (2019). The principled leadership scale: An integration of value-based leadership. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology/SA Tydskrif vir Bedryfsielkunde, 45(0), a1553. https://doi.org/ 10.4102/sajip.v45i0.1553 Copyright: © 2019. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Motivation for the study: Leader behaviour intrinsic to value-based leadership was found to be closely aligned with universal moral values. Because the study found a considerable overlap between the behaviours mentioned in the value-based leadership theories, it sought to integrate these behaviours under one construct and to develop a reliable and valid scale to assess this construct. Research approach/design and method: Data from the quantitative study were analysed by means of item analysis, exploratory and confirmatory bi-factor analysis conducted via structural equation modelling. Main findings: The confirmatory bi-factor solution corroborated a strong general principled leadership factor and four moderately weak group factors. The statistical analyses provided good fit of the PLS measurement model with the empirical data. Practical and managerial implications: The study found acceptable measurement properties of the PLS that may be used for applications, such as the selecting, training and developing of ethical leadership in organisations. Contribution/value-add: The study adds value in that it is the first to integrate the four valuebased leadership theories under one construct and to develop a potential psychometrically sound instrument to measure principled leadership. Keywords: Ethical leadership; value-based leadership; principled leadership; authentic leadership; servant leadership; transformational leadership; confirmatory bi-factor analysis. Introduction The Enron debacle of 2001 could possibly be regarded as one of the most complex examples of unethical and corrupt business practices of the past two decades. Despite the lessons that leaders could have learnt from this debacle, history keeps repeating itself as daily reports of unethical behaviour, greed and the abuse of power by public and private organisational leaders continue to make headline news. Recent international examples include the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), Volkswagen, Panama Papers and Steinhoff scandals, while issues such as state capture and gross misuse of government funds continue to dominate South African news. Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. The devastating result of having an organisation managed by corrupt leaders is that the corruption does not remain closeted behind the boardroom door. The leaders’ corrupt behaviour tends to infiltrate and pollute the entire organisation. This phenomenon has its roots in the social learning theory (SLT), developed by Bandura (Bandura, cited in Mayer, Kuenzi, Greenbaum, Bardes, & Savador, 2009), which suggests that individuals will strive to emulate the behaviour of role models in their work environment. Employees witness reward and punishment for the behaviour that is deemed acceptable or unacceptable in their workplace and will adjust their behaviour in accordance with what is deemed an acceptable behaviour (Mayer et al., 2009, p. 2). In organisations where leaders are corrupt, display immoral behaviour as the norm and are seen to reap positive rewards despite this behaviour, employees will learn to emulate such behaviour to similarly reap rewards for themselves. http://www.sajip.co.za Open Access Page 2 of 10 Several methods for curbing the corrupt behaviour of leaders and their followers have been proposed in the literature. These include adherence to and penalties for breaking the law, organisational policies, professional codes of conduct that prescribe appropriate work behaviour, codes of ethics, ethics training and ethics committees (Mayer et al., 2009; Sauser, 2005). That these methods are able to enforce ethical conduct of leaders in organisations is, however, doubtful. The organisations linked to the scandals referred to above are all guided by such laws and codes, and yet corruption has triumphed. Pillay (2014) and Sauser (2005) suggest an alternate solution to this problem. Sauser (2005, p. 346) proposes that the conscience, based on the individual’s value system, is what ultimately holds people accountable for their actions. This value system becomes the leader’s inner moral compass and guides the leader’s actions from the inside out (Pillay, 2014). What is therefore needed is for organisations to appoint leaders who have a strong moral compass and who, based on this, rather than on moral regulations imposed from the outside, become role models of desirable moral behaviour, which will cascade down the ranks of an organisation via social learning (Mayer et al., 2009). In addition to role modelling, leadership development training appears to have some value in instilling appropriate moral behaviour in leaders. However, traditional forms of leadership training, whereby leaders attend short conferences or training sessions, appear to add little more value than a cognitive, short-lived, motivational experience for developing leaders (Allio, 2005). For leaders to learn to lead effectively, their behaviour must change in line with effective leadership outcomes. Effective leadership encompasses establishing the vision, values and purpose of an organisation and building a culture that embraces these in such a way that growth and survival of the organisation are achieved (IoDSA, 2016). The change in behaviour necessary to achieve effective leadership does not occur through a once-off training session. It requires mentoring and coaching by appropriate role models, over a period of time, until the required behaviour is learnt and entrenched (Allio, 2005). Some important questions to consider before embarking on a programme to develop effective leaders and strengthen th (...truncated)