Using the leadership practices inventory to measure transformational and transactional leadership

The present study investigated whether the broader dimensions of transformational and transactional leadership can be inferred from subordinate reports of leadership behaviors collected using instruments not specifically designed for this purpose. The leadership measurement instrument used was the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). Alternative second-order factor models were evaluated using LISREL 7, and results suggested that subordinate assessments made using the LPI also can be used to measure transformational and transactional leadership. This suggests that transformational and transactional leadership approaches may be thought of as underlying dimensions, with more particularistic leadership behaviors, such as those described by the five LPI dimensions, being related to them.