Measuring follower confidence in top leadership direction

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to define the construct of confidence in top leadership and to develop a brief measure of that construct. Design/methodology/approach - Two studies were conducted in which 674 working adults completed measures of work-related attitudes. In both studies, the scale demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity with like and unrelated constructs. Findings - The results provide evidence for the construct validity of the new measure. Research limitations/implications - Respondents were relatively young and drawn predominantly from a working student population in a single region of the USA. Additional research should be conducted with additional working populations, especially in the context of addressing organizational change. Practical implications - The short five-item scale would be useful as a diagnostic tool for assessing the confidence of organizational members in their top leadership. Originality/value - This study supports a concept, confidence in top leadership, that as a followership variable, can be used to identify if top leadership has the support of its followers.