Biography and the Assessment of Transformational Leadership at the World-Class Level

Abstract

This study examined how world-class leaders differ on five transactionalltransformational leadership factors. Biographical accounts were used to assess leadership. Subjects were 149 undergraduate business students who completed a multi-factor leadership behavior questionnaire as if they were subordinates of one of 68 world-class leaders whose biographies they had read. Additional ratings of a subsample of world-class leaders were completed by participants who had not read biographies of their chosen leaders. Results indicated support for the construct validity and reliability of biographical data as a measure of leadership qualities. Recommendationsforfurther improving the reliability of psychohistorical procedures are offered.