Background: Despite the espoused importance of relational energy, and the fact that it is generated in interaction between leaders and their subordinates, little is known about which leadership style generates the highest relational energy. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in the levels of relational energy generated and transmitted when employees interact with leaders who exhibit autocratic, transactional, transformational and servant leadership styles. Method: The study utilised scenario-based experimental methodology to gather data. Five leadership experts reviewed the description of each leadership style prior to use in the study. A pilot study was carried out with 40 executive education participants to establish that the description of each leadership style was different and identifiable by non-experts. Fifty-two executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) participants from various organisations in six industries in Lagos, Nigeria, provided data for the scenario analysis. To avoid errors, the data for each style were collected separately. Data analysis was performed using analysis of variance and Tukey’s honest significant difference test. Results: The results of the scenario analysis showed that indeed there is a difference in the relational energy generated when employees interact with different leadership styles. Conclusion: The results have practical implications for the selection and training of individuals to be placed in leadership positions. Leadership selection and training must emphasise servant leadership. This is the first study to empirically establish that different leadership styles generate and transmit different levels of relational energy during interaction with employees.

中文翻译：

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领导风格和关系能量：所有领导风格都产生并传递平等的关系能量吗？

背景：尽管关系能量具有极其重要的意义，并且它是在领导者及其下属之间的互动中产生的，但对于哪种领导风格产生最高的关系能量知之甚少。目的：本研究的目的是确定员工与表现出专制，交易，变革和仆人式领导风格的领导者互动时，在产生和传递的关系能水平上是否存在差异。方法：本研究利用基于情景的实验方法来收集数据。在研究中使用五位领导专家之前，先对每种领导风格的描述进行了审查。对40名高级管理人员进行了一项试点研究，确定每种领导风格的描述都是不同的，并且可由非专家识别。来自尼日利亚拉各斯六个行业各个组织的52名企业管理执行硕士（MBA）参与者提供了用于情景分析的数据。为避免错误，分别收集了每种样式的数据。使用方差分析和Tukey的诚实显着差异检验进行数据分析。结果：情景分析的结果表明，当员工与不同领导风格互动时，产生的关系能量确实存在差异。结论：研究结果对于领导人才的选择和培训具有实际意义。领导层的选择和培训必须强调仆人的领导。这是第一项根据经验确定与领导互动过程中不同领导风格产生并传递不同层次关系能量的研究。