Leadership Styles in Non-Profit Institutions: An Empirical Study for the Validation and Reliability of a Scale in the Latin American Context

There is no doubt that leadership is one of the most researched and disseminated topics in recent years, and over time, some distinguished models have developed a solid foundation and a reputable structure. From this perspective, this study analyzes the evidence of validity and reliability of a scale that assesses leadership styles in non-profit institutions. The study had an instrumental design. The sample consisted of 272 workers from nine Latin American countries, aged between 19 and 68 years (M = 34.08 and SD = 8.61), recruited through non-probabilistic sampling. A validity and reliability analysis of the scale confirmed the nine items and three original factors (servant, empowering and shared leadership). The KMO test reached a high level (0.898 > 0.70), and the Bartlett test reached a highly significant level (Sig. = 0.000). The scale also showed good internal consistency (alpha = 0.918 to 0.956; CR = 0.918 to 0.957; AVE = 0.755 to 0.880). Likewise, for the Confirmatory Factor Analysis, a measurement adjustment was performed, obtaining excellent and acceptable fit indices for Model 2 (CMIN/DF = 1.794; CFI = 0.993; SRMR = 0.023; RMSEA = 0.054; Pclose = 0.369). This study provides a brief and useful tool to measure leadership styles in Latin America, as a scale used specifically for this context would allow for a more accurate and valid assessment. This is crucial for generating effective organizational interventions, fostering the development of authentic leaders, and improving the competitiveness of non-profit institutions.