Managers' Spirituality at Work and Transformational Leadership Style in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 2012

Abstract

Background:In today's changing and uncertain environment, there is a need for transformational leaders. Besides, due to lack of effective leaders in organizations, identifying factors influencing managers to act as transformational managers is very important. Spirituality is one of the factors, which cause managers to act as transformational managers. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association between managers' spirituality at work and their leadership styles in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran in 2012. Materials and Methods:This was an applied, cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study conducted on all managers at different levels (n = 44) and a sample of 74 employees of the Vice Chancellor of Management Development and Resource Planning of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran in 2012. Data was collected using two questionnaires evaluating managers' leadership styles and their spirituality at work. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 by Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Linear Regression (Stepwise method). P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were positive and significant correlations between transformational leadership style and managers' spirituality at work (r = 0.364, P < 0.001) and between transformational leadership style and all dimensions of managers' spirituality at work (P < 0.05). Multiple Linear Regression showed that among the dimensions of managers' spirituality at work, only interpersonal communication had a significant effect on using transformational leadership style by managers (P = 0.001). Conclusions: If managers' spirituality at work, especially interpersonal communication skills improves, their use of transformational leadership would be increased. Therefore, it seems necessary to employ individuals with great interpersonal communication skills and good communication with other people and colleagues, teams, formal and informal organizations as managers. Furthermore, it is recommended to continuously improve managers' communication skills to enable them to act as transformational managers.