Translation and Validation of a Transformational Leadership Scale in Peruvian Public Servants

Abstract

Background Transformational leadership has been identified as an essential component for success and innovation within the public sector, especially in the digital age and in the face of global challenges. This form of leadership, which seeks to change and inspire people, has been shown to be crucial for improving organizational performance and the quality of public services. However, the application of these principles in Peru faces specific challenges, and there is a notable lack of empirical research on this phenomenon in the Peruvian public sector, particularly in the evaluation of the tools used for its measurement. Objective This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Global Transformational Leadership (GTL) scale in a sample of Peruvian public servants. Methods An instrumental research design was adopted, using non-probabilistic sampling. The sample included 290 Peruvian public servants (M = 34.61, SD = 9.2), with an analysis that encompassed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability estimates. Results Descriptive analysis results indicated a high tendency to respond positively on the scale. The CFA confirmed the proposed unidimensional structure of the scale, with acceptable fit according to various indices (χ2 = 39.130, CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.08, SRMR = 0.03), and all factor loadings were significant and greater than 0.50, indicating a strong association with the transformational leadership dimension and exceptionally high internal consistency (α = 0.94). Conclusions The study confirmed that the GTL transformational leadership scale is a psychometrically robust tool and applicable to the Peruvian context. The unidimensional structure and high reliability of the scale suggest that it is suitable for measuring transformational leadership among public servants in Peru.