Leadership, Trust and Organizational Performance in the Public Sector

Abstract

This study uses survey data on U.S. federal employees to investigate whether employee trust in leaders mediates the relationship between transactional and transformational leadership behaviors and organizational performance. The fi ndings suggest that both transactional and transformational leadership behaviors and employee trust in leaders are positively associated with organizational performance. Employee trust in leaders was found to mediate the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and organizational performance. The study suggests that public leaders need to continue to develop their leadership skills, particularly their transformational leadership ones, as well as build trust to improve performance within their organizations.

Keywords

• transactional leadership, transformational leadership, trust in leaders, organizational performance, u.s. federal employees, mediation.