Spirituality and Transformational Leadership Practices: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

Transformational leadership practices and spirituality continue to be topics of research on effective leadership. Quantitative research on the impact a leader’s spiritual health has on transformational leadership practices has not been explicitly examined. This quantitative correlational research study evaluated, via self-assessment inventories, nonprofit administrators’ spirituality, transformational leadership practices, and the relationship between the two. Data were gathered and tested via Person’s r bivariate correlation to determine if a significant relationship between nonprofit administrators’ spirituality, measured by the Spiritual Transformation Inventory 2.0, and transformational leadership practices, measured by the Leadership Practices Inventory, exists. Thirty-one nonprofit administrators in western Pennsylvania were selected by way of convenience sampling. The first 31 participants to return a consent form were selected. Data were collected in two weeks using online surveys. SPSS was utilized to calculate the composite (mean) scores for the spirituality and transformational leadership practices variables. The correlational coefficients were analyzed to determine significant relationships between the variables. A one-tailed test of significance was used to test the relationship of the variables with a .05 significance level to analyze the results. Data gathered and analyzed from the study provided no conclusive evidence about the relationship between western Pennsylvania nonprofit administrators’ spirituality and transformational leadership practices. Continued research on spirituality and transformational leadership may offer leaders responsible for developing organizations’ culture and climate a greater understanding of how to effectively nurture leadership practices for self-improvement, improvement of others, and well-being in the workplace.