Explaining the Relationship between Competence and Transformational Leadership Style of Managers in Research Organizations

The present research aimed at understanding the relationship between competence and leadership style of the managers (focusing on transformational style). First, 16 managers (the same as the number of the components of competence) and experienced employees were selected to have deep interviews. Second, 231 mangers were selected randomly as the sample group from the employees of different centers of Jihad Daneshgahi. To collect data, the researchers conducted deep interviews and then, according to the results of the interviews, administered researcher-made questionnaires to assess competence, and used multivariate leadership questionnaire (MLQ) to study leadership style. To analyze the data, structured equations model and Lisrel software were employed. The results indicated that three types of competence, including value competence, professional competence, and personality competence must be considered in the assessment of competence. Value competence was more predictive than the others, personality competence and professional competence, occupied the second and third ranks. The results also indicated that transformational leadership style could explain managers competence. In other words, it can be used to predict managers competence.